Last week, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant were teammates with the Brooklyn Nets. As of Thursday, they are both playing for contenders in the Western Conference. And by the sounds of it, Irving isn’t too broken up about it from the Nets’ perspective.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Phoenix Suns traded Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, and additional draft compensation to the Nets for Durant. The superstar had been rumored to want out of Brooklyn on and off for the last year, so it’s not a complete shock, though it was said even earlier in the day that a deal before the NBA Trade Deadline was unlikely.
That trade comes just days after the Nets shipped the controversial Irving off to the Dallas Mavericks despite reports that he would have much rather gone to the Los Angeles Lakers. Brooklyn owner Joe Tsai reportedly nixed that possibility out of spite over the way Kyrie handled himself while with the team. Irving let it be known that he “felt disrespected” at times in Brooklyn and seemed pretty unhappy that he had been forced to apologize for sharing antisemitic messages last year.
Irving found out that Durant had been traded during his post-game interview on Thursday morning and he once again made it clear that there is no love lost for Tsai and the Brooklyn Nets.
“I’m just praying for his happiness and well-being. We had a lot of conversations throughout the year of what our futures would look like,” said Irving, via Grant Afseth. “We just cared about seeing each other in places we could thrive.
“I’m glad he got out of there.”
Kyrie Irving on Kevin Durant trade:
"I'm just praying for his happiness and well-being. We had a lot of conversations throughout the year of what our futures would look like. … We just cared about seeing each other in places we could thrive. … I'm glad he got out of there." pic.twitter.com/pBtpphXy5F
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) February 9, 2023
“This was in the works like after Year 1,” added Irving. “I was unsure about whether I wanted to be in Brooklyn long-term again because of things that were happening behind the scenes.”
Kyrie Irving isn't surprised to see Kevin Durant get traded from the Nets:
“This was in the works like after Year 1. I was unsure about whether I wanted to be in Brooklyn long-term again because of things that were happening behind the scenes.” pic.twitter.com/aw3yq0VsiM
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) February 9, 2023
To be fair, Irving isn’t the only person lacking sympathy for Tsai right about now.
