Kyrie Irving has done a fine job over the last couple of years of making sure he doesn’t have the best of relations with the higher-ups at the Brooklyn Nets. There were his comments right after Steve Nash was hired as coach, that the team didn’t need a coach, which undermined Nash’s position from the get-go. We also had an unexplained leave of absence and of course, his refusal to get vaccinated which meant he couldn’t play home games this season.
Irving was seemingly getting away with all these antics because he was a star and also because he had his teammate Kevin Durant’s unwavering support. That might no longer be the case, though, as it was reported that the relationship between KD and Kyrie isn’t as close as it seems. If that is the case, then it spells trouble for Irving, as everything in the Brooklyn Nets organization revolves around Durant, and if he so desires, then Kyrie would be on his way out.
“So that is a literal multimillion dollar question here, not only in the next week as we figure out what Kyrie’s going to do with that player option, but moving forward because they just don’t know if that is a dynamic duo that will hold long-term. They want to get a clear answer from Kevin. And we’ve talked about it for months: Everything in that Brooklyn organization revolves around Kevin Durant. If KD wants Kyrie back, he’ll be back. If KD signs off on ‘eh, I don’t know if it can work, I don’t know if I can trust him out there every night,’ then Kyrie may be elsewhere.”
With Shams Charania reporting that the Nets and Irving are at an impasse, Durant might well have the final call here on what needs to be done. If Irving is to leave, then as per Shams, the Lakers and the Knicks are interested in getting him on board, with the Clippers also being touted as a destination for the star guard.
He would undoubtedly make all those teams much better but the question is whether Kyrie is worth all the baggage that comes with him. The Nets seem to have reached a point where they no longer believe that to be the case but his talent means that someone will always take a chance, believing they can keep him in check. If this is the end of Kyrie’s time with the Nets, then an era that promised so much will come to an end with a whimper, after being swept in the first round by Irving’s old team, the Boston Celtics.
