“The focus was not the team, but more the individual performances” – Goran Dragic blasted Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving for their selfish approach in Brooklyn originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The Brooklyn Nets had the names.
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Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and, for a stretch, James Harden. On paper, the roster looked ready to compete with anyone. They had the offensive firepower, star power and the experience. Most projections had them winning the 2022 NBA title.
They entered the season as the favorites, and the expectations followed them every step of the way.
Another gut-wrenching collapse
When it came time to deliver, the team came up short.
Brooklyn was swept in the first round of the 2022 playoffs by the Boston Celtics, who would later go on to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.
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Durant shot just 38.6 percent across four games. He committed 5.3 turnovers per contest and struggled to find his rhythm. Irving started strong in Game 1 with 39 points but averaged only 15.3 points on 37.8 percent shooting over the rest of the series.
Months later, Goran Dragic offered his own perspective on what went wrong behind the scenes. He had joined Brooklyn midseason and saw the team dynamic up close.
“I played with some stars like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and I have to admit that it was quite difficult because the focus was not the team, but more the individual performances of the individuals,” Dragic confessed outright.
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Dragic had been sidelined for most of the 2021-22 season after parting ways with the Toronto Raptors. When he finally returned to action, it was with Brooklyn, and he was immediately thrown into the rotation.
He played 30 minutes in some games despite not seeing the floor for four straight months. His averages with the Nets were modest — 7.3 points, 4.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds — but the challenge had more to do with the situation than the stat sheet.
“It was really tough last year, but that’s part of the sport,” Dragic said. “I’m happy that I came to the club environment that I wanted, in which I know that I will play, where I can reach consistency again, and that’s what I’m most happy about. Last season, I didn’t play for four months, then I came to Brooklyn and immediately played 30 minutes, which was difficult.
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“The season was really not successful, but the most important thing is that it is behind us, it is in the past and now we can only look forward.”
A forgettable run
Dragic ended that year averaging just under 20 minutes per game during the regular season and made five appearances in the playoff series against Boston. He put up 10.5 points per game in the postseason, hitting 56 percent of his shots in limited minutes. His play was solid, especially given the context, but the team never clicked around him.
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Looking back, the experiment never found its footing.
The Big Three was rarely healthy at the same time, Harden was traded midseason and the supporting cast shuffled constantly. With Durant and Irving taking on a bulk of the offensive load and little defensive resistance from the rest of the lineup, the Nets couldn’t stop Boston’s balanced attack.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 59 points in Game 3 alone. Brooklyn’s defense ranked 20th in efficiency during the regular season and showed little improvement in the playoffs.
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Dragic would move on to join a more stable situation with the Chicago Bulls and later Milwaukee. For him, it was about finding a role that fit and building toward something sustainable.
He never publicly criticized Durant or Irving beyond pointing to the lack of collective focus, but his comments added yet another piece to the broader story of a team that never lived up to what it was built to be.
The Brooklyn chapter didn’t unfold as many imagined. The results weren’t there, and the chemistry never surfaced. And for that reason, it will forever be seen as one of the most staggering failures in NBA history.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 26, 2025, where it first appeared.