Kyrie Irving 'Never Felt' Kevin Durant Was 'Angry' at Him for His Decisions with Nets
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving suggested late Wednesday night that he and Kevin Durant are in a good place despite the breakup of their partnership with the Brooklyn Nets.
While speaking to reporters about Durant, Irving said, "There's never been one moment where I felt like he's been angry at me for the decisions I've made."
Irving also expressed happiness over Durant getting traded out of Brooklyn to the Phoenix Suns.
Irving requested a trade away from the Nets last week, and they acted quickly to fulfill the request, sending him and Markieff Morris to the Mavs for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029.
That put Durant's future with the Nets in flux, and Brooklyn decided to blow things up completely late Wednesday night, trading KD and T.J. Warren to the Phoenix Suns for Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected first-round picks.
Upon hitting free agency in 2019, Irving and KD decided to join forces, signing with the Nets on the same day.
Irving had won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, and Durant won a pair of titles and NBA Finals MVP awards with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018, meaning the expectation was for Brooklyn to win at least one championship, if not more.
Durant missed the entire 2019-20 season and Irving missed most of it because of injuries. They finally got on the court together in 2020-21, and general manager Sean Marks added another huge piece to the equation by acquiring perennial All-Star guard James Harden from the Houston Rockets.
Despite having three superstars, the Nets were ousted in the second round of the playoffs that season. Then, things broke down last season, leading to the trade of Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers, and Brooklyn was swept out of the first round of the playoffs.
While injuries limited both Irving and Durant during their time with the Nets, some decisions Irving made arguably held back the team as a whole.
Primarily, Irving's choice to not receive the COVID-19 vaccine forced him to sit out most of the Nets' home games last season because of protocols in New York City, and that capped the team's potential.
Also, before requesting a trade this season, Irving was suspended eight games for sharing the link for a film that expressed antisemitic viewpoints and then failing to disavow antisemitism when explicitly given the opportunity to do so.
Ultimately, the Nets honoring Irving's trade request was another domino to fall, and it led to the trade of Durant, which effectively ended Brooklyn's championship pursuit experiment.
Now, Irving and Durant are both in the thick of things in the Western Conference on teams with a legitimate chance to compete for a title.
Kyrie has formed a superstar duo with Luka Dončić in Dallas, while Durant will lead a strong Suns roster along with Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton.
The Irving and Durant era didn't go the way most envisioned in Brooklyn, but they have both come out of it with an opportunity to return to championship glory.
