Nets fans probably aren’t as excited as I am that their team, which has on its roster both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, is being led in scoring by Garrett “Most Likely To Be An NBA Coach After Retirement” Temple. But they really should be. Irving and Durant, they aren’t Nets basketball. Superstars scoring points isn’t Nets basketball. Scrappy underdogs ARE Nets basketball. Savvy vets playing hard IS Nets Basketball.
Garrett Temple scoring 27 IS Nets basketball.
And that’s the truth. When next year rolls around and Irving and Durant buddy it up and take all the shots and destroy the soul of the team, I’m not going to be watching. It would make me too sad. I was already getting really sad with just Irving; his injury has made the Nets one of my favorite teams again. Nets fans who actually care about wins (as opposed to DownToBuck, who only cares about fun) might think I’m being overly sentimental. And they’d be right. But even they cannot deny that things were a lot more fun last year.
If Temple keeps this up, he will post the highest scoring average of his career this season. He’s basically at 10 points per game right now, an incredible amount for a career role-player who’s been playing for 10 years and went through 6 teams before one decided to keep him around for more than a dozen games. Watch out Vince Carter: Temple is coming for your age record, he only needs 10 more years, and he’s apparently just gonna keep getting better and better.