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Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks won the 2021 NBA championship after beating the Brooklyn Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals. There was a ton of controversy as Brooklyn played multiple games without Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
Harden hurt his hamstring, and Irving hurt his ankle. Milwaukee was down 2-0 in the series and ended up winning in seven games after Giannis performed at an elite level.
Kevin Durant played an incredible series, and any help certainly could've put Brooklyn over the edge. However, at the end of the day, Milwaukee won the series. If Milwaukee had Khris Middleton last season, the Bucks would likely feel that they would've won their seven-game semifinal series against the Boston Celtics.
On "ESPN Countdown" before the Bucks played the Toronto Raptors, ESPN analyst Jalen Rose said it didn't matter that Brooklyn wasn't healthy because they wouldn't have won the series.
"Soon as I hear people bring up the Kyrie Irving injury, it reminds me that people still disrespect Giannis," Rose said. "That's all of this becomes Giannis found a way to be the best player in the game, win the championship, win the MVP win the Defensive Player of the Year. They were going to beat the Nets."
Stephen A. Smith responded by saying that the Bucks had no chance to win that series.
"You did not just say that," Smith said. "What, what, what? That is nonsense. I will remind you. The Brooklyn Nets was up by 50, 50. And then by the way, even when Kyrie went down, if KD had wore size 12.5 instead of a size 13, they'd been home. What're you talking about?"
Interestingly enough, the Bucks beat the Nets in Game 3 and were killing the Nets in Game 4 before Kyrie Irving went down. Perhaps Smith forgot about that.
Would the Nets have beaten the Bucks if healthy?
It's always tough to say that a team would've won. There are always injuries, and saying a team would've won because of no injuries doesn't make much sense. We've seen multiple players injured and their teams still find a way to get the job done. Giannis Antetokounmpo took over at the end of the day.
Steve Nash wasn't happy with the loss but realized it's a part of the game, saying:
"With Kyrie out, and James on one leg, you have to understand it’s not normal," Nash said. "I think we proved tonight that we could. You always know that there is a chance. We just faced one too many obstacles. They gave us everything, and that’s all you can ask for."
James Harden said point-blank that the Bucks wouldn't have beaten Brooklyn if the Nets were healthy. It's tough to tell if he actually meant that considering he left the team less than a year later.
"We try to improve and get better, that’s all you can ask. If Kyrie and me are healthy, it’s a different conversation," Harden said. "But we can’t talk about that because that wasn’t the case."
Brooklyn and Milwaukee might have a chance to meet again this offseason.
