The Brooklyn Nets picked up a victory over the Charlotte Hornets during Wednesday night’s NBA action, 122-116. The game got a little hairy in the second half for Brooklyn as they led by as many as 23 points, but the lead was cut down to one point in the fourth quarter.
Ultimately, the Hornets fell just short as they didn’t have enough to keep up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The Nets’ duo scored the final 15 points of the evening for Brooklyn to put away a Hornets team that received a team-high 29 points from Terry Rozier and 28 points from Kelly Oubre Jr.
Irving scored a game-high 33 points to go along with nine assists and five rebounds. Durant nearly had a triple-double, pouring in 29 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists and he was the one who drew some praise from Hornets head coach Steve Clifford.
Before the game, Clifford compared Durant to Kobe Bryant, which for many players, is as high of honor as you can receive. Bryant, who tragically passed away along with eight other people, including his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash in January of 2020, has lived on through memorials and honors in and outside of the basketball world.
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Players admired his tenacity on the court and how much work he put into becoming the best player that he could be. When told of the comparison from Clifford, Durant, a basketball junkie, gave a brutally honest answer about how much he appreciated it.
“Kobe is someone I’ve been around and still study to this day,” Durant said via NBA Analysis Network’s Grant Afseth. “Basically, I try to copy everything he does — same with Michael Jordan… Those two guys set the tone for everything you want to be as a basketball player…”
Durant was never teammates in the NBA with Bryant but spent plenty of time around him during their time with Team USA and as opponents on the court. He has spent countless hours watching tape and learning from Bryant and Michael Jordan, two of the greatest players to ever step on the court.
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Whenever you are compared to players of that caliber, you are doing something right. Durant is one of the best to ever play the game as well and it won’t be too long until coaches and players are praising him in the same fashion they have done Bryant and Jordan.
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