Source: Jim McIsaac / Getty
Kevin Durant is about one week away from his debut with the Phoenix Suns, but the 13x NBA All-Star feels sour that he was not able to win a championship during his four seasons with the Brooklyn Nets. But more so, when running buddy Kyrie Irving asked out, Durant said he really felt gutted.
“That [trade request] was tough for me to stomach,” Durant shared during the Suns’ news conference at Footprint Center yesterday. “I loved playing with [Kyrie and James Harden] throughout the year. I felt like we had dudes that were stepping up.”
Durant and Irving joined forces in Brooklyn for the 2019-2020 season, and the talented tandem were expected to bring plenty of success to the Barclays Center, including a few chips. But the Nets experienced numerous bumps along the way and could never find a steady groove.
Durant literally carried them a few centimeters short of getting to the NBA Finals in 2021. However, he was always hampered by injuries throughout his tenure in Brooklyn. But Irving’s off-court controversies, notably his anti-vax stance and claims of Anti-Semitism, truly marked the beginning of the end for this once-promising team-up.
“I enjoy the grind, and everybody there, we tried our hardest every day regardless of what was going on in the media, what was going on with our teammates, everybody who was in that gym, we grinded,” Durant added. “So I love those guys. I get emotional talking about it because that was a special four years of my career, coming off an Achilles [injury]. They helped me through a lot.”
For Irving’s part, he was complimentary of Durant and wished him the best in his new home. “I’m just praying for his happiness and praying for his well-being,” the new Dallas Mavericks guard said last week. “We had a lot of conversations throughout the year of what our futures were going to look like… But we just cared about seeing each other be places that we can thrive whether that be together, whether that be apart.”
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Durant’s big trade news:
