Kyrie Irving showed up big-time in his debut for the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
A couple days after being acquired from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving scored a game-high 24 points while leading the Mavs to a 110-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers without Dallas superstar Luka Doncic, who is dealing with a heel injury.
After the game, reporters spoke to Irving to get his reaction about the late-night Kevin Durant trade to the Phoenix Suns. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News shared a video of Irving’s postgame comments about KD.
“Love the competition now that we can be in the same conference,” Irving said. “I welcome all of that. Get to see him a little bit more, probably, playing against Phoenix a lot more. That’s what I’m looking forward to. Everything else in between, I’m just glad that he got outta there.”
Despite holding a 32-22 record and the East’s No. 5 seed, the Nets have quickly entered rebuild mode by shipping away Irving and Durant this week. The franchise has been embroiled in controversy in recent seasons, trading away James Harden for Ben Simmons last year and mutually agreeing to part ways with coach Steve Nash after a 2-5 start to the season.
Irving put the wheels in motion when he requested a trade this week, while Durant reportedly targeted Phoenix as his preferred destination. Now both players have joined squads with legitimate chances to make deep postseason runs.
Irving insists that there was no rift between him and Durant despite all the apparent drama.
“I’m just praying for his happiness and praying for his well-being,” Irving said. “We had a lot of conversations throughout the year of what our futures were gonna look like. There was still a level of uncertainty, but we just cared about seeing each other be places that we could thrive, whether that be together or whether that be apart. There’s never been one moment where I felt like he’s been angry at me for decisions I’ve made or I’ve been angry at him. We’re just trying to understand each other a lot better and grow as human beings, grow as brothers. This business changes so quickly. He’s getting a little bit older, I’m getting a little bit older.”
Related
