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Kevin Durant # 7 of the Brooklyn Nets gets drunk during the second half against the Golden State Warriors at the Barclays Center on December 22, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Nets won 125-99. Sarah Stier / Getty Images / AFP
Kevin Durant’s smooth return to the NBA is “a little scary for the rest of the league,” Steve Kerr, his former coach with the Golden State Warriors, said Tuesday.
Kerr coached Durant through two NBA Championship runs with the Warriors and had a courtside seat as Durant played his first significant NBA game since sustaining a compromising Achilles tear. his career playing for Golden State in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
Not long after Durant left for Brooklyn as a free agent, but by the time he finally dressed for the Nets on Tuesday, on the first day of the 2020-21 season, 561 days had passed since his last competitive game.
“(His game) is a little scary for the rest of the league,” said Kerr, whose Warriors were defeated 125-99.
“I couldn’t tell a difference between seeing it 18 months ago and seeing it (now),” Kerr added.
Durant effortlessly paired with Nets star Kyrie Irving.
The four-time NBA scoring champion showed flashes of fire. He threw a dunk that put the Nets up 18-8 with 7:20 left in the first quarter.
His 10 points in the first quarter, along with Irving’s 17, were more than the 25 scored by the Warriors in the first period.
It only got better for the Nets, and Durant and Irving, along with the rest of their starters, missed the fourth quarter with the game well controlled.
Durant finished with 22 points in just under 25 minutes, making seven of 16 shots from the ground and exhausting all seven of his free throws.
Durant insisted there was no additional emotional element to facing his former team.
He and Warriors star Stephen Curry exchanged a warm hug on the court before the game.
“No emotions at all,” Durant said. “It’s good to see old friends, old teammates.
“But I wouldn’t say there was any emotion. I think the guys came here and played very hard and competed and put on a good show for opening night. “
Nets fans, however, could have felt a lot of excitement after seeing the delayed pairing of Durant and Irving.
But new Nets coach Steve Nash, a two-time NBA MVP in his first job as head coach, doesn’t want to pile the pressure of expectations on Durant.
“That’s true and fair (that Durant looks good),” Nash said. “He has done everything and is in the best position to come back from this injury.
“But we also have to give Kevin time to play NBA games and not get carried away.
“He looks amazing, he’s playing amazing, but I just want to give him a break and not apply too much pressure after not playing competitive basketball for 18 months.”
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