The Brooklyn Nets trio of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant had the potential to move mountains. Unfortunately, the championship dream didn’t materialize, as Harden demanded a trade in a shocking turn of events ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. Irving spoke about this on his livestream recently, expressing how he felt betrayed by this decision as well. He said:
“When James [Harden] got traded for Ben [Simmons], I don’t think we knew the landscape of where Ben was at. When that trade happened, it shocked a lot of people. It shocked me.”
“S**t, I was talking to James one day, and I’m like, ‘S**t, bro, we’re about to go win these championships.’ And it was like a day later, asked for a trade.”
While Irving was shocked by Harden’s decision, he later explained that he understood the reasoning behind it, saying, “I’m not going to be mad at someone doing what’s best for them… I had my conversation with James. I told him I understood. I understood completely what he was doing.”
Harden’s decision to leave Brooklyn was monumental, primarily because it marked the end of what could have been one of the most formidable offensive trios the league had ever seen.
After Harden left to join Joel Embiid on the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets suddenly had a star duo instead of a trio, with Durant and Irving running the show. With two of the most gifted offensive players on the floor, Brooklyn still looked like a threat.
On his livestream, Irving reflected on what it was like to be paired up with Durant during that period. He said:
“I will say this. The 7/11 duo of me and KD will never be topped in terms of being on the court with somebody that special. Let me get that disclaimer. I’ve played with a lot of great players, but playing with KD, it was all day. He’s one of the best of all time.”
When considering that Irving has played and won a title with a superstar like LeBron James as well, this is certainly high praise.
Unfortunately, Irving’s time in Brooklyn wasn’t the most positive in the overall scheme of things. While considering that his run with the Nets was also marked with some degree of controversy, particularly during the pandemic, it is evident why he wished to leave eventually.
Among the many topics the nine-time All-Star discussed on his stream, he also shed light on the different experiences he and Durant had with the franchise.
Irving admitted that he didn’t have a great relationship with the Nets front office, claiming, “Brooklyn wasn’t f***ing with me like that… the Nets didn’t want me, they wanted Kevin Durant.”
In addition to this, he also responded to one of the comments Durant made during his appearance on the “Mind The Game” podcast. As the former Nets forward recalled the differential degrees of commitment shown by the players on the team, Irving responded by saying:
“We’re all committed to the goal at the end of the day, but sometimes, not everybody’s going to follow what you want them to do… Not everybody’s going to do what you want them to do. I’ve had to accept that as a human being, and as a leader.”
“Not everybody’s going to be committed the way you want them to be committed. It’s not like K [Durant] asked me for this, but I asked this commitment from him, which was a beautiful thing.”
“I was like, ‘Yo, let’s commit to this thing. We can build up Brooklyn. We can really put Brooklyn on the map.’… but when he said that, I was like, ‘Bro, Steve wasn’t even in the play yet. But this is your man. I’ve got to support it… You like Steve, I love Steve.”
The guard acknowledged how the hiring of Steve Nash as head coach had an impact on the franchise. After two years as head coach, Nash was eventually fired at the start of the 2022-23 season, tipping the first domino leading up to the end of the era featuring Durant and Irving as the star duo.
After Durant was traded to Phoenix and Irving joined Dallas midway through the 2022–23 season, the Nets officially entered a rebuilding phase.
Having seen limited postseason success with their “Big Three”, Brooklyn closed that era with deep disappointment and an enduring “what if”, a haunting question of what might’ve been had the stars stayed healthy.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the former teammates would have matched up against each other more frequently, as Durant joins the Houston Rockets in the same division. Unfortunately, Irving is expected to remain sidelined as he continues to rehabilitate from his injury.
