Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving decided to join forces in 2019 by taking their talents to the Brooklyn Nets. They have technically played two seasons together but are yet to produce the results that the organization expected them to.
On the contrary, both of them have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. This summer, it was believed that KD and Kyrie would exit the team. They may have managed to stay, but the damage has arguably already been done.
During the offseason, they reportedly disrespected head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks. But as per Nash, he has already moved past all the offseason drama.
Considering that at one point, KD reportedly made the owner Joe Tsai choose between him or Nash and Marks, it may seem like good news. But what if that’s just an act? And deep down, Nash is still hurt.
Skip Bayless Demands More Respect For Steve Nash
KD and Kyrie’s relationship with Nash has always been rocky ever since the Nets hired the former NBA star.
The duo infamously said they didn’t need a coach, and that’s certainly not a good way to start a new partnership. Keeping that and a lot more in mind, NBA analyst Skip Bayless wants the Nets star duo to treat Nash with more respect.
(Starts at 4:55):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiCyNYsxFIs
“Here’s what actually happened through the offseason: Kevin Durant said ‘get me out of here’ because he was sick and tired of all the bull jive from Kyrie Irving. He made a mistake, he followed the wrong guy in Brooklyn. He wants out, he’s gotta get out cause the environment is no longer stable enough to produce a championship says Kevin Durant.
So Kevin Durant was backed into a corner by Joe Tsai, who just said ‘Kevin, I just gave you 4 more years. You owe me 4 more years, I’m not gonna give you away. I’m sorry’. So Kevin gets more and more desperate and he says ‘uh-oh, I gotta go with an ultimatum. I gotta say publicly either you fire Steve Nash and Sean Marks or let me go’. Because he thought maybe that would be enough.
I feel sorry for Steve Nash because right out of the box Kyrie says ‘we don’t even need a coach’. That’s when I really start to feel sorry for a guy… Steve Nash won 2 MVPs previously. Back-to-back MVPs. He deserves more respect than these guys are giving him. For me personally, if I were in Steve Nash’s shoes, I don’t think I could ever quite get over this one.”
As explained by Skip, Nash was a phenomenal player throughout his career. He had a great basketball IQ, and it’s probably one of the reasons why the Nets hired him to coach the team.
But if the two best players on the roster do not treat the coach with respect, things could get out of hand pretty quickly. We have seen an example of that in the last two seasons. So there’s a huge chance that it may happen again and once again ruin the chances of the Nets winning the NBA Championship.
