Wizards' Scott Brooks sums up Nets' Kevin Durant as 'winner'
Nets' Kevin Durant tosses the ball during a time out against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Barclays Center on Jan. 7, 2020. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
WASHINGTON — Nets star Kevin Durant has been ruled out of playing this season although he appears to be making excellent progress in his recovery from right Achilles tendon surgery. But Wizards coach Scott Brooks, who coached Durant for eight seasons with Seattle and then Oklahoma City, offered a preview of coming attractions on Saturday night before facing the Nets.
Describing his experience with Durant, Brooks said, “Kevin is the best, man. That guy is one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever been around as a player, as an assistant coach, as a head coach. To me, it’s so easy to describe him with one word. He’s a ‘winner.’ He plays with the right spirit, he plays hard. He’s an impossible guard, I mean, impossible.
“I’ve seen it all, and there’s many nights he could have had 40 [points] and he could average mid-to-high 30s if he wanted to. But he’s a complete basketball player. He wants to do the right thing and fill up the stat sheet. He wants to rebound, he wants to block shots, he wants to guard one through four, and nowadays, I’m sure he can guard one through five. He is a winning basketball player, and they’re going to be a handful once he comes back.”
Brooks also raved about Nets point guard Kyrie Irving, the superstar who accompanied Durant to Brooklyn when they signed as free agents last summer. The test for the Wizards was to contain Irving one night after he scored 54 on 19-for-23 shooting in a win over the Bulls.”
“He’s a wizard — I mean, not really a ‘Wizard,’ but he handles like a wizard,” Brooks said of Irving’s ballhandling. “It’s like it’s on a string, it’s a yo-yo. You think, ‘That’s a turnover.’ No, it’s a layup. In the last 20 years, he’s the best layup-maker I’ve seen in basketball. You think you have a chance to block him, but it’s going right over your fingertips.”
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
