When the video of Kevin Durant playing three-on-three with some of his Brooklyn Nets teammates came out before the NBA went on hiatus, the entire basketball world took notice. Even though Durant had already ruled himself out for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, the Nets forward had everyone wondering if he could suit up for Brooklyn soon.
Those who saw the small clip from the outside weren’t the only ones impressed by Durant’s play in those three-on-three games
Garrett Temple told Alex Schiffer of The Athletic that Durant is “very efficient in the way that he scores and the shots that he takes, even in there-on-three.” The Nets wing added:
It really isn’t much different what [Durant] does in three-on-three than he does in five-on-five. He assesses the defense and goes from there.
Theo Pinson also explained to Schiffer why Durant is “unguardable”:
You think you’re contesting it, playing good defense and in a way he doesn’t even see you. It makes us better, and we’re trying to challenge him, too.
Pinson got a good feel for just how tough Durant is to stop when going through the three-on-three workouts. The Nets guard was part of the “Extra Work Group,” according to fellow Brooklyn guard Chris Chiozza, who was a member, along with Rodions Kurucs, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Jeremiah Martin.
Chiozza illustrated just how good Durant while he was on The Glue Guys Podcast:
It’s totally different when you see him out there scoring 40 points on TV than when you see him score 40 points on you. It’s a lot. In your head, you’re like ‘Well, he’s 6 [feet] 9 [inches],’ so he’s tall. We know he can shoot. He can dribble. He’s like a guard. … Then you play against him against, you’re like, ‘Uh, he’s a little bit taller than 6 [feet] 9 [inches].” He can do more than shoot. He doesn’t miss. And he can dribble like a guard. Like, really dribble. When you’re out there with him, it’s just crazy. … He’s definitely the best scorer I’ve ever seen. I think most people would agree with that. ‘Cause there’s nothing you can do to stop him. He’s taller than everyone and he can shoot better than pretty much everybody in the NBA.
Chiozza also added, “If [Durant] gets better than what he is right now, it’s going to be a long season next year for whoever’s guarding him.”
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