Inside The Nets

Former Buck drops hot take in the Nets' 2021 title fortunes if it wasn't for injuries

Jackson notes that the Nets were set to become the 2021 NBA champions until injuries for both Harden and Kai happened.

Marin Gabric

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A member of the Milwaukee Bucks' recent championship team gets real on the 2021 title fortunes of the Brooklyn Nets if it wasn't for just the critical injuries that happened to James Harden and Kyrie Irving.

In an appearance on the Tidal League podcast, Justin Jackson claimed that the Nets have “low-key” swept the Bucks and are on their way to the title until both Harden and Irving go down.

"If James Harden and Kyrie Irving do not get hurt, they lowkey sweep us when I was with the Bucks," he said. "They beat us by 40 in the first two games in Brooklyn.

A traumatic moment in Nets history

Forever a painful “What-If” in the hearts and minds of every single Nets fan, the team's 2021 Eastern Conference Semis with the Bucks turned out to be a forgettable experience upon a series of unfortunate events. Despite going up with a commanding 2-0 lead that initially annihilated the Bucks, the Nets still excruciatingly collapsed at the end.

James sustained a hamstring injury at the start of the series, only to see himself come back not in full power when Kai suddenly rolled his ankle in Game 4 of the series. From these massive injury blows, Kevin Durant willed the Nets, but his historic efforts weren't enough to lift Brooklyn in the seven-game war with Milwaukee.

Other than the injury issues of both the All-Stars, another gut-wrenching one for the Nets was KD’s infamous Game 7 shot in which his foot was on the line. If only Durant hadn't exceeded, Brooklyn would've entered the Conference Finals and is poised to win it all.

"The crazy thing is James got hurt in the first game, they still beat us by 40 in the second game. They were still in charge of the series, then Kai rolls his ankle. And it's actually like we actually might have a chance now. Then we went to Game 7, and if KD's shoes was one size smaller, we lose.”

A tragic series led to a disastrous ending

Regardless of the Bucks' eventual title romp, Jackson is convinced that the Nets are supposed to become the 2021 NBA champions that year if only they remained healthy.

That has been the prevailing belief not only around the Nets fanbase but also in the entire basketball community as well. But at the end of the day, what truly transpired will always be a tough pill to swallow, as this series of defeats ultimately led to the downfall of their past era.

"Would have, could have, should if — if that team was healthy, they were winning the entire thing. I don't care anybody says. But sports happen, injuries happen. It's not their fault that they got hurt,” Jackson added.

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Marin Gabric
MARIN GABRIC

Marin's love for writing developed in high school but was furthered in college when he took a number of creative writing courses. Doing sports writing felt like an extremely natural continuation, as it furthered his passions in both writing and basketball.  Marin loves the feeling of looking at stats after a game and analyzing what each team could've done better or what they excel in compared to the rest of the league. And the ability to do so for his favorite team, the Brooklyn Nets, is quite special in itself. 

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