The Nets, since general manager Sean Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson arrived in Brooklyn, have built a reputation as a gritty team that plays hard.

After signing free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this summer, many have questioned how adding a pair of All-Stars to the mix is going to change that hard-working ethos, and how much it could take the edge off.

According to Caris LeVert, it won’t.

“It’s kind of who we are,” LeVert said Wednesday on ESPN. “That’s the easy part for us. That’s who we are as players, as a team.

“I feel everyone has a chip on their shoulders from 1 to 15 before those guys, and I know those guys do, too. I feel everyone at this level, that’s kind of what you have to have to be one of the top players. That’s our identity. … I know we won’t lose that.”

LeVert wasn’t just the Nets’ best player at the beginning and the end of last season, he’s as much a part of that identity, that Nets DNA, as anybody on the roster.

The 24-year-old guard was Marks’ first draft pick for the team back in 2016, taken with the pick acquired when Thad Young was dealt to the Pacers. LeVert suffered through an NBA-worst 20-62 rookie campaign, then a 28-54 season before leading Brooklyn in scoring during last season’s playoffs.

LeVert was averaging a team-high 19 points when he suffered a gruesome foot injury in November. He poured in a team-high 21 points in their first-round playoff loss to Philadelphia, shooting 49.3 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from 3-point range.

During his appearance Wednesday on ESPN’s “The Jump,” the young guard spoke about the Nets’ expectations with Durant out following surgery on his ruptured Achilles tendon and about the talent on the rest of the roster that will have to step up until the two-time NBA Finals MVP returns to the court.

“We’ve got a lot of good pieces that a lot of people aren’t talking about that are going to help us this year. So, we’re definitely looking forward to maximizing our potential, wherever that goes,” LeVert said. “We don’t know yet, but obviously, we have a lot of fire power.”

LeVert cited a bench that could include Spencer Dinwiddie, Garrett Temple, Taurean Prince, Rodions Kurucs and DeAndre Jordan as part of that firepower.

“Obviously, Rodi had a great rookie season last year,” LeVert said. “You know Taurean is a really good player in this league and a lot people kind of overlooked him, just being in Atlanta and not really seeing him a lot on TV. Garrett Temple, a proven vet. And you know, Spencer should’ve been in the Sixth Man conversation again this year.”

In the Nets’ locker room, LeVert is occasionally referred to as Baby Durant, and he had developed a relationship with the star forward long before Durant bolted Golden State for Brooklyn. But LeVert still professed at least a modicum of surprise when Durant and Irving picked the Nets.

“Honestly I was a little surprised,” LeVert said. “I’m definitely very excited because those are two guys I like to play against and watch a lot of film on. Obviously I can’t wait to play alongside those guys.”

That Durant-LeVert friendship started after Nets team orthopedist Dr. Martin O’Malley operated on LeVert’s foot leading up to the 2016 draft. Durant, who also had his foot repaired by Dr. O’Malley the prior year, reached out to LeVert in support.

The two began to train together during the offseason, and they stayed close. Now Durant is recovering from that Achilles surgery, which also was performed by Dr. O’Malley. LeVert has not only sympathy, but also empathy for Durant, whom he considers like an older sibling.

“He obviously has a good perspective about how to go about things,” LeVert said. “But he’s kind of like a big brother to me and so we’re kind of bouncing things off of each other with ideas and things like that.”