The Kyrie Irving saga regarding his future seemed to have come to an end a couple of weeks back when reports emerged that the star guard was set to stay with the Brooklyn Nets. Despite all the controversies that came with Irving, it seemed like the Nets were going to keep him around, but the parties are at an impasse now.
A big reason why many felt that Irving would end up getting a favorable extension with the Nets, was his relationship with Kevin Durant. The two had come to Brooklyn as a package deal and the general consensus was that if the Nets did not extend Irving, then Durant would want out from the team. A new development in this story, however, suggests that might not be the case. Nick Friedell, who covered the Nets for ESPN this season, stated during SportsCenter that the team plans to have a sit-down with Durant to get an idea regarding his feelings on the matter and that he isn’t as close to Kyrie as you might think.
“At every turn publicly, [Kevin Durant] has been there to support [Kyrie Irving], to say we need Kyrie, to say Kyrie can win a title with me here in Brooklyn. But I can tell you, I’ve been talking to people in the organization the last couple of weeks, when they finally sit down and talk to Kevin throughout the summer, they are trying to figure out if Kevin saw what everybody else saw. … The reason that whole season got sidetracked was because they couldn’t count on Kyrie, and they didn’t know if he was going to be out there. And the issue with Kevin is, he wants to win badly, he wants to be loyal to his friend. But I’ve been told that relationship, while very close, isn’t always as close as it appears to be.”
That is the first time anyone has reported that the two aren’t always as close as they seem and if that is the case, then Kyrie’s time with the Nets might be coming to an end. He has in all likelihood, alienated his coach Steve Nash by holding his own practices after team practices and GM Sean Marks hasn’t come out as his biggest fan either, so if KD isn’t a staunch supporter, then the writing is on the wall.
His move to the Nets in 2019 promised success the likes of which the franchise hadn’t seen but so far, it has been nothing but disappointment.
