Asked about Kyrie Irving’s trade request at his introductory press conference in Phoenix on Thursday, Kevin Durant seemed to indicate that he was ready to see things through with the Nets before his fellow star asked to be traded.
“I was upset that we couldn’t finish,” Durant said. “I thought we had some good momentum.”
After expressing a desire to make Brooklyn “home,” Irving demanded a trade after contract negotiations hit a snag, with the Nets reluctant to fully commit to Irving without stipulations due to recent suspensions and Irving missing the majority of last season due to his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Irving was quickly shipped off to Dallas, which left a disappointed Durant to ask to be traded as well, no longer seeing a path to a championship in Brooklyn.
“We were finally building a culture that we always wanted,” Durant said. “Every game, we were building our chemistry. But I didn't know what was going on with Kyrie and his situation with the organization. I didn’t really focus on that…it was a blow to our team. It took away our identity. He was a huge, huge part of what we do. He’s a Hall of Fame player that can do anything on the floor. We relied on that. without him, we didn't have a clear identity.
“That was tough for me to stomach.”
Durant and Irving had the Nets as high as second in the Eastern Conference, and even with Durant sidelined with an MCL injury, Irving’s play had the team holding strong until Durant’s return. Instead, both All-Stars were on different teams in a span of days before the trade deadline, in a resolution that Durant didn’t seem to expect, nor did it seem like he had any intention of reactivating his trade request from the summer until Irving himself asked out.
“I loved playing with those guys,” Durant said. “I felt like throughout the year, we had dudes that were stepping up…I enjoyed everything about it. It was tough to not finish the season, but I just tried to move forward as quickly as I could and try to figure something out for myself…it all happened so fast, but I’m glad it worked out this way.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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