Nets' Kevin Durant on James Harden's Departure: 'You Look at it From His Perspective'

Kevin Durant was asked whether he felt the Brooklyn Nets could have done anything to keep James Harden around long-term after his team's 132-121 road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday.

He provided this response:

"You try and look at it from his perspective, look up, and Kai's [Kyrie Irving] not playing, and then I'm injured. He hasn't won a championship before ... he's 32 years old. Looking at himself, wanted to make a decision to get on a team that can kind of get him to that ... one of the last teams standing."

"You look at it from his perspective and just say 'it is what it is.' You can't really control how somebody feels when they're thinking like that. "

"Hopefully he stay healthy, and their team stay healthy, and we stay healthy, and we have a great year, they have a great year, and we can just move from this, you know?"

The Nets engineered a blockbuster trade with the Houston Rockets for Harden in Jan. 2021. He, Durant and Kyrie Irving were supposed to form a dominant big three in Brooklyn, but for various reasons, it did not work out.

Brooklyn ultimately traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers right before the Feb. 10 trade deadline this season.

The 76ers were already enjoying a good season without Harden, but they've gone 5-0 when he has played.

Meanwhile, the Nets have gone 10-24 in their last 34 games to fall to 33-33. Durant missed much of that stretch with a sprained MCL, and Irving has been limited to road games due to New York City's COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

He also didn't play at all until Jan. 5, with the Nets initially ruling him out until he was eligible to become a "full participant" before changing course.

Brooklyn got Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond in the deal, but Simmons is currently out with lingering back concerns.

Simply put, this year has been a struggle for the Nets since a 23-9 start.

A dominant road win over Charlotte could get Brooklyn back on track now, though, as the team looks to move forward.

Old friends will meet again on Thursday, with Brooklyn visiting Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center.