Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were basically a package deal when they signed free-agent contracts with the Brooklyn Nets back in 2019, and the superstars' friendship wasn't frayed by the team's off-court drama and on-court flameout this season. But the title-starved Nets have failed to live up to the superteam expectations since recruiting Durant and Irving, and it appears that the future isn't too reassuring.
According to the New York Daily News, Brooklyn is "outright unwilling" to give Irving a long-term extension this offseason, due to his vaccination status and unreliability as a recent part-time player. The Nets have Durant under contract through the 2025-26 season, but if the team isn't comfortable with Irving and his commitment level, it could place them in a precarious position. Irving also has a $36 million option he can decline to become a free agent this summer.
"If they're very close, I'd want my friend back. But we're going to have to have a long talk," Hall of Fame swingman Tracy McGrady explained to The Zach Gelb Show on Thursday. "Yeah, that has to be a sit-down conversation between me and whoever that person is. I've got to know where your mindset is, because we just got embarrassed in the playoffs, and I don't want that to happen once again. Whole season was a disaster. I need to find out where your head's at.
"You in this or are you not? If you're not, that's fine. I need to make a decision for myself. I don't want to be in this situation, and have to go through it again. I'm getting older, and the door is shutting on us as teammates. But, it's much bigger than those two. We've got to have a convo with our coach. And I love Steve Nash as a player, but watching these playoffs, it looked like pickup ball. It felt like KD and Kyrie weren't put in a situation to flourish."
When the NBA season began last October, Brooklyn was justifiably pegged as a championship contender, with the second-highest payroll in the league. But in a season chock-full of chaos, injuries, and lineup shuffling, billionaire owner Joe Tsai couldn't even buy a win during the playoffs. The Nets suffered a first-round sweep against the Boston Celtics in April, and dating back to the 2020-21 Eastern semifinals, Brooklyn is 1-8 in its last nine playoff games.
The blame-game doesn't start with Durant, and it also shouldn't end with him. The 34-year-old star averaged 29.9 points with 7.4 boards and 6.3 assists over 58 regular season games, and in four games against the Celtics, he averaged a team-high 26.3 points. As for Irving, who made his regular season debut on Jan. 5, he played just 29 games due to New York's vaccine mandate. In those games, however, the 30-year-old was sharp -- he averaged 27.4 points.
The entire NBA conversation between McGrady and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The Zach Gelb Show on Twitter @ZachGelb and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.