What happens when the 2020-21 Nets’ Big Three finally get a healthy playoff run against the reigning champion Knicks? Brooklyn has the star power, but New York has something those Nets never did: a championship.
A hypothetical matchup between the fully healthy 2020-21 Brooklyn Nets and the 2026 New York Knicks is the kind of NBA debate that could go in circles for hours.
PlayersChoice_ recently posed the question on X, asking which team would win a seven-game series if both were fully healthy.
The Nets lineup featured Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant, and DeAndre Jordan. Meanwhile, the Knicks countered with Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
On paper, it is hard not to be impressed by the amount of offensive talent on Brooklyn's side.
A healthy Nets team would have three players in Durant, Irving, and Harden who could create their own shot against virtually any defender. All three could score from all three levels, while Harris provided one of the league's best shooting threats and helped create even more space for the stars.
That is a tough group to defend in a playoff series.
At the same time, there is an obvious reason to hesitate before automatically picking Brooklyn.
That version of the Nets never actually got to play a full season together.
Injuries, COVID-related absences, and other issues kept Durant, Irving and Harden from consistently sharing the floor. Harden arrived in Brooklyn midway through the season, and the three stars only played a limited number of games together.
Then came the playoffs.
The Nets looked like they were on their way to making a deep postseason run before injuries completely changed the series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Harden was playing through a hamstring injury, Irving suffered an ankle injury and Durant was left carrying an enormous offensive load.
Brooklyn ultimately lost that series in seven games.
That is what makes this hypothetical so interesting.
The Knicks have something those Nets never had: the benefit of actually winning a championship together.
Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Bridges and Hart have already gone through the pressure of a postseason run and come out on top. There is something to be said for knowing exactly what your teammates are going to do when the game slows down and every possession matters.
The Knicks would also have a significant defensive advantage.
Brooklyn's trio could overwhelm almost any offense with its scoring, but New York has multiple players capable of making life difficult for opposing stars. Anunoby and Bridges would give the Knicks legitimate options against Durant and Irving, while Hart brings plenty of physicality and toughness on the perimeter.
Still, if the question is simply which team has the higher ceiling when everyone is healthy, it is difficult to look past the Nets.
Durant, Irving, and Harden are three of the most gifted offensive players of their generation. Even an elite defensive team can only do so much when Brooklyn can attack with three different stars and constantly put pressure on a defense.
But there is a difference between having the most talent and having the better team.
That is why this hypothetical is much closer than it initially appears.
The 2020-21 Nets had an offensive ceiling that was arguably unmatched, but they never had the opportunity to establish the continuity needed to turn that talent into a championship.
The Knicks, meanwhile, actually did.
As a Nets fan, it is easy to look at Durant, Irving, and Harden and immediately lean Brooklyn. I probably would too. But there is also a pretty strong argument for New York, especially considering the Knicks have already done something this Nets team never got the chance to do.
If both teams are truly fully healthy, though, I would still take the Nets in seven.
Not because they accomplished more. They didn't.
Not because they proved they could stay healthy. They couldn't.
I just think Durant, Irving, and Harden would eventually be too much to deal with over seven games. There are only so many ways to defend three guys who can take over a game by themselves.
Maybe that is the biggest reason this hypothetical is so interesting. The Nets had the talent to be one of the best teams of their era, potentially, but we never actually got to see it happen.
