Nets thank Durant in social media post, but NOT Irving after pair traded to Western Conference
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Brooklyn Nets thank Kevin Durant in social media post, but NOT Kyrie Irving after pair traded to Western Conference…as even role player TJ Warren gets tribute
Four days after the Nets officially traded Kyrie Irving, the team hasn’t thanked him for his time in Brooklyn, while Kevin Durant and TJ Warren were recognized less than 24 hours after they were traded to the Suns.
Irving was traded to the Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and a future first-round pick after requesting a trade last week.
The request came after Irving and the team were unable to agree on a contract extension for the star, and following a blistering 18-2 run that ended last month.
Irving got his wish, being sent to Dallas to star opposite Luka Doncic, but Brooklyn has evidently taken pains not to thank the star, while Durant and Warren received thanks on both Twitter and Instagram.
The guard’s time in Brooklyn was very tumultuous.
Playing just 143 of a possible 278 regular season games for the team in his time there, Irving was a sideline player last season due to his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, making him ineligible to play at home for a lot part of the time. year under New York City rules.
Kyrie Irving made his Mavericks debut earlier this week after being traded by the Nets.
The drama continued this season when Irving missed eight games after sharing Amazon’s link to an anti-Semitic movie on his Twitter, initially refusing to apologize in subsequent press conferences.
Also, Irving ruffled feathers in 2021 when he was caught celebrating his sister’s and father’s birthdays when he was off the team for “personal reasons.”
Joe Tsai, owner of the Nets supposedly made him a ‘target’ not sending Irving to the Lakers, one of his favorite destinations, according to Marc Stein, and there seems to be no love lost between the guard and his former team, either.
“I just know that I want to be in places where I’m celebrated, and not just where I’m tolerated or treated in a way that doesn’t make me feel respected,” Irving said at his introductory Mavs news conference.
“There were moments throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn where I felt very disrespected.
And after the news broke that Durant was traded to Phoenix, Irving said he was “glad to be out of there.”
The Nets’ commitment to snubbing Irving is made even clearer by the team’s tribute to Warren.
The era of KD and Kyrie is over in Brooklyn, with just one playoff series win to show for it.
While Durant, of course, starred for the franchise for three seasons, Warren had only been with the team since last offseason and played just 26 games for Brooklyn.
He started zero games for the team.