A whirlwind off-season for the Brooklyn Nets is almost over, and Kyrie Irving has revealed how he felt "awkward" when hearing that Kevin Durant requested to be traded.
There is finally some clarity in Brooklyn, as both Durant and Irving will remain on the roster at least for this season. And the Nets will be hoping for a much more straight forward one this time around.
The Nets had Championship hopes with Irving, Durant and James Harden on their roster, but that was swept aside as drama on and off the court took over. Harden traded to the Philadelphia 76ers as a result, but just as Irving opted to stay, he heard that Durant was looking to leave too.
"It was just a lot," Irving said to reporters on Monday. "Like, hearing Kev wanted a trade request, I opt in, it’s awkward. It’s very awkward.
"I’m sitting at home, like, I don’t know what to think of it, but because there’s a trust that we have within each other, I just ultimately want to see him do well and be happy. So, if that wasn’t within our organization, I was gonna have to accept that and move on."
Durant missed a large portion of last season as he was sidelined with a sprained MCL, and Irving barely featured due to not being vaccinated. Harden couldn't stand the drama and left, while Ben Simmons has gone the other way.
Simmons has also come off the back of a tough season, where he became the most fined player in NBA history for lack of participation. This was later put down to his poor mental health, and Simmons has since slammed the 76ers for not helping him during a difficult period.
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This season they will all be playing for the Nets, with general manager Sean Marks looking to put all of the drama to one side and focus on basketball. "We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn," Marks said.
But Irving is still unhappy with how he's been treated for choosing not to be vaccinated, meaning that things may not be fixed just yet. "I didn’t appreciate how me being unvaccinated all of a sudden came to be a stigma within my career that I don’t want to play, or I’m willing to give up everything to be a voice for the voiceless," he said.
"I gave up 4 years, 100-something million to be unvaccinated," Irving added. Regardless of the drama, the Nets still have an incredible roster, and if all players can remain available then they will still be a huge force in the Eastern Conference.
Even newly traded Simmons said that Durant and Irving looked "incredible" during practice, hinting that there is no animosity between the pair. But with Brooklyn, drama is never far away, so it remains to be seen how they start the season.
