When the Nets take the floor at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks on Wednesday night, it will be the first time ever that they do so with both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in game uniform, and the first time the superstar duo will play there as teammates.
With injuries to Durant and Irving’s vaccination status, the two haven’t been able to share the floor of The World’s Most Famous Arena since signing with Brooklyn in the summer of 2019. It has long expected to be a hostile welcome after the two were considered to be candidates to sign with the Knicks that summer, but New York fans have waited three years to finally let their feelings be known. That will come Wednesday night.
“You’re trying to make me go viral, man,” Irving laughed when asked what kind of atmosphere he expects at The Garden. “You know how that series goes between us and the New York Knicks. It’s been that way since I’ve been a fan of the Nets since I was a kid. It’s gonna be action-packed.
“It’ll be an exciting environment where you know what to expect. It’s the Mecca…playing in one of the most historical arenas in the world. That aside, we just have to bring it.”
But teammate Bruce Brown says Knicks fans should tread carefully when raining boos down on the Nets in what is a lost season for New York. With the playoffs an impossibility, Knicks fans should simply try and avoid an embarrassment on their home floor, which Brown says would be in their future if they get Durant and Irving going.
“I don't think they want to say too many bad things because there will be two 50-balls tomorrow if they start talking,” Brown said.
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