Mark Madden: Good for the Brooklyn Nets for standing up to Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant picked Kyrie Irving over Steph Curry.

He went to Brooklyn and finagled with the roster. It turned into an excrement show. Durant has won one playoff series during his two seasons in Brooklyn. He wants to be traded, but it appears no team wants to give up what’s required to get him. Now he wants the Nets GM and coach fired, but owner Joe Tsai says no.

Bravo, Mr. Tsai. Bravo.

Durant might be the NBA’s best player, but he’ll never be the man. He won two championships with Golden State, but he wasn’t the man. The Warriors won before Durant got there and again after he left.

Irving let Durant down. Irving refused to get vaccinated and has played just 83 games of a possible 154 since Durant joined the Nets in 2019.

But Durant can’t blame Irving. That’s a bit too close to looking in the mirror.

So Durant wants out or to totally run the Nets.

He won’t get either. Good.

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It’s about time somebody reminds the athletes, even the elite ones, that they’re employees. They’re disposable. The money isn’t.

Babe Ruth retired, but MLB survived. Michael Jordan quit, came back, quit, came back, then quit for good, and the NBA never missed a beat. Tom Brady retired for 40 days before discovering he missed the NFL more than the NFL missed him.

These are undeniably all-time great players. But they’re not bigger than the game.

And if Ruth, Jordan and Brady aren’t, Durant doesn’t even come close.

If Durant doesn’t play, you know who will be the NBA’s best player?

Somebody else.

The Nets have been disappointing since Durant arrived. They can disappoint without him.

The Nets aren’t the Steelers. If they were, Durant could “hold in” and get what he wants.

Durant made his bed in Brooklyn. If he had any pride or even a smidgen of self-awareness, he’d lie down and make the best of it. (He yet may. But for lack of options.)

You’d have to be nuts to trade for Durant.

Boston is reportedly interested. But they were just two wins from the NBA championship last season. That’s a lot closer than Durant got.

The Celtics are a young team. Their top two scorers are 25 and 23. They have one player over 30.

Why would the Celtics gut their team, salary cap and future to bring in a 33-year-old who has proven he’s not the man? Plus, Durant is a gigantic pain in the backside. It would be insane.

The Celtics are closer to a championship without Durant than they would be with him.

Star athletes aren’t good de facto GMs. LeBron James is proving that with the Los Angeles Lakers. They just need to show up and play.

That’s a long way from “shut up and dribble.” Athletes should feel free to have social and cultural impact. They should also get their fair share of revenue, which they didn’t for nearly the first century of professional sports.

But they shouldn’t run teams. First and foremost, they’re no good at it.

When they try to run teams and fail, like Durant in Brooklyn, there should be accountability.

Shame on star-struck media members who stooge for athletes even when they’re wrong. The Athletic’s Shams Charania called Durant “transparent and professional.” Durant has pointedly been neither.