Kevin Durant hesitates to address Kyrie Irving & James Harden trade: "You got to ask them, to be honest"
The Brooklyn Nets seemed to have a good thing going. With Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, the team looked poised to make a splash in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately for the organization and its fans, the big three never raised a championship banner as many hoped.
First, Irving missed time due to his unvaccinated status, not playing until January and eventually totaling just 29 games in 2021-22. Then, Harden was sent to the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade that saw Ben Simmons land in Brooklyn in February 2022.
The situation led to a split that saw Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on one side, and coach Steve Nash on the other. Ultimately, the Nets parted ways with Nash in November, a move that helped fuel success earlier this season.
Despite that, Kyrie Irving remained in the headlines as he dealt with the ramifications of spreading antisemitic information. With Jacque Vaughn at the helm, things seemed to be clicking on the court, however Irving demanded a trade, moving to the Dallas Mavericks in February. Durant was then traded to the Phoenix Suns.
The pair of blockbuster trades signaled the final blows to the Durant, Irving and Harden era in Brooklyn, leaving only speculation about what could have been. Had things gone differently, would the trio have stuck together? During a recent interview with The Ringer, Kevin Durant opened up on the split:
"You got to ask them, to be honest. My job is to play, and I think I did that. Rehab, a lot of stuff was out of my control that I didn't ... I can't speak on, to be honest, but I just thought we didn't play enough minutes together. That's all."
James Harden weighs in on the split between himself, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving
While Kevin Durant has remained elusive in answering exactly what went wrong in Brooklyn, James Harden has been more transparent. At the time, reports indicated that Harden was frustrated with Irving becoming a part-time player after refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Once he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, he opened up more about the problems in Brooklyn, speaking to the New York Post:
"Frustrating. It's a lot of what-ifs, I think when you play less than 20 games together. So, it's a little bit frustrating, but it is what it is. Hopefully, everybody's in a good place now, and we can move on.
"I don't want to really go into that. But there's a lot of internal things that was going on, which was one of the reasons why I made my decision. And everybody talked down on me and gave me negative feedback or whatever you want to call it."
Harden, who re-signed with the 76ers on a cheaper contract to free up cap space during the offseason, is awaiting a second-round playoff matchup. After Philadelphia swept the Brooklyn Nets, only time will tell whether they're able to make a postseason run.