"No f**king doubt about it" - Kyrie Irving delivers NSFW response to his 2021 playoffs injury
Kyrie Irving's time with the Brooklyn Nets was tumultuous, to say the least. Prior to his trade to the Dallas Mavericks, Irving dealt with plenty of controversies this season after he shared antisemitic material online.
The situation, which spanned several weeks and saw him miss eight games due to a suspension, marked the end of a controversial stint in Brooklyn. As he pointed out on Twitter this week, however, had he not injured his ankle during Game 4 of their second-round matchup, things would have been different.
After Milwaukee Bucks fans lamented the injury Giannis Antetokounmpo has been dealing with since Game 1 of the playoffs, Kyrie Irving weighed in.
Much like how Bucks fans have been upset by The Greek Freak's injury, Irving maintains that his ankle injury was one of the most painful moments of his career.
"One of the most disappointing and painful moments of career. If I don’t get hurt that series, every single one of us on that Brooklyn team/bandwagon would be Champions. No f***ing doubt about it."
@brooklynnets85 One of the most disappointing and painful moments of career. If I don’t get hurt that series, every single one of us on that Brooklyn team/bandwagon would be Champions.
No f***ing doubt about it.
Hélà
🤞🏾♾
At the time, Kyrie Irving was notably averaging 22.7 points per game throughout the playoffs that season, along with 5.8 rebounds per game and 3.4 assists per game. After Irving went down, the Bucks were able to win the series 4-3 en route to the NBA Finals.
What went wrong in Brooklyn for Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden?
Given the success that the group had against Milwaukee prior to Kyrie Irving's injury, many thought the group would find success together in the future. Unfortunately, for the Nets organization and its fans, the next season, Brooklyn was swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics.
So what went wrong for the elite scoring trio of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and James Harden?
It depends on who you ask. After being traded to Dallas, Kyrie Irving stated that he felt he had been disrespected by the Brooklyn Nets organization. He spoke to media members in Dallas upon his arrival, giving a vague answer about his departure:
“That’s another day where I can go into detail about it. I’m not a person to really speak on names and go to someone behind their back and try to leak stuff to the media. I need healthy boundaries, especially in this entertainment business."
He continued:
"There’s a lot of disrespect that goes on in people’s families and their names. I’m just not with it. It’s nothing personal against any of those guys in the front office. It’s just what I’m willing to accept.”
James Harden also spoke in an interview with the New York Post about what went wrong in Brooklyn after being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. In addition to citing a frustration with Kyrie Irving's availability given his unwillingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Harden was quoted as saying:
“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."
For his part, Kevin Durant has declined to comment on what went wrong, directing those curious about the situation to ask Irving and Harden.