Carly Intrabartolo ‘25
It is official that Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant’s big Nets era has come to an end. There was a big shake-down announcement this February within the NBA. If you haven’t heard, these two powerhouse basketball players were traded away from the Brooklyn Nets.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both requested to be traded off the Nets this past summer only to be granted their requests this February, with Irving reiterating his request within the past few weeks after failing to agree on a contract extension. Kyrie Irving will be heading to the Dallas Mavericks. With him comes some baggage, from his refusal to receive the mandated covid vaccine, leaving him to not be able to play in half his team's games last season, to a perceived prejudiced action towards Judaism in the form of an Instagram post.
Irving has also recently spoken out about how he felt disrespected by the Nets, but he explains that he will go into more detail about that in the future. Irving says he wants to play where he is celebrated and not just tolerated.
Kevin Durant, upon hearing about Kyrie Irving’s trade, was unapologetic about his disappointment in the news. Durant felt that the Nets would be losing their identity as a team without Kyrie.
“Honestly, if the Nets turn into a losing team now, I wouldn’t be very surprised,” says Sofia Sterlacci, who seems to be disappointed in this trade as well.
Durant, who has been out due to an injury since January 12, has had his request to be traded granted this February as well. Last offseason, Durant requested a trade. However, the Nets were unable to find a good replacement leading them to take him back and have him continue playing for the Nets. Durant will now be playing for the Phoenix Suns. His knee injury has him sidelined for a few weeks now, and it is unknown when his debut as a Sun will be, but it is expected that he will mesh well with his new teammates. In exchange for the Nets giving up two of their most valuable players, they now will receive first-round draft picks and the right to swap another first-round pick, as well as the forwards Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson from Phoenix.
It’s been a very exciting time for players in the NBA, given the okay to request to be traded. It’s time for us viewers to sit back and watch some up-to-date, full of surprise, basketball.
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