There were six weeks in the summer of 2021 that Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden appeared committed to each other on the Brooklyn Nets. All three received offers for maximum contract extensions, and once Durant signed his that August, general manager Sean Marks declared, "I feel very confident that first day of training camp, we’ll be looking at those three, in particular, being signed, sealed and delivered."
Weeks later, Harden "twice reassured Durant" that he would sign a three-year, $161 million extension with the Nets during their vacation together in Greece, according to The Ringer's Logan Murdock.