Kyrie Irving got out of Brooklyn first, and Kevin Durant followed soon after. The departures left fans in the lurch with their merch and with heavy hearts. Irving is now with the Western Conference’s Dallas Mavericks, while Durant is also in the Western Conference — with the Phoenix Suns.
Strangely, Irving told the media after his first Mavs game that now that he and Durant were no longer teammates, he thought he would “get to see him a little bit more.”
Irving, who (perhaps jokingly) once claimed the earth was flat, must be unfamiliar with Western geography. One fun fact about Western geography is that Dallas is 1,064 miles away from Phoenix. Another fact to keep in mind: The Suns play the Mavs just one more time this regular season, on March 5.
When both Durant and Irving played for Brooklyn, they saw each other a lot because, you know, they were both in Brooklyn. On the same team.
Often they were together in other arenas, too, wearing the same uniform. Also at practice. There were witnesses to their togetherness at Barclays Center and also abundant photographic evidence from TV cameras and mobile devices.
Yet Irving, in his first postgame interview in Dallas, expressed the believe that he will now see his ex-teammate more often, not less.
“This business changes so quickly,” Irving said. “[Durant]’s getting a little bit older. I’m getting a little bit older. I just love the competition now that we can be in the same conference and I welcome all 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 out of there.”
Irving’s Brooklyn tenure was marked by controversy, of course, which caused him to miss many games. Irving missed major game action after refusing a Covid vaccination and more recently there was Irving’s suspension from the team due to some controversial social media posts. Still he saw Kevin Durant frequently. Because instead of being a 1,000+ miles away from each other, they were in the same gym.
It’s worth mentioning just one more time that Irving and Durant were on the same team before. Now they are not.
