“Their body language wasn’t bestie body language” - Skip Bayless believes Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving ‘broke up’ as best friends, says there was no sense of closeness between them
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving haven't had much success with the Brooklyn Nets. Both have won championships in their careers, but pursuing one in Brooklyn has been difficult.
The Boston Celtics swept the Nets in the first round. Durant wants to be traded, and Irving may also switch teams.
Before all this drama happened, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were close friends. However, Skip Bayless believes that they are no longer "besties" after Irving's questionable behavior.
"I do believe that this whole issue comes down to the fact that KD and Kyrie effectively broke up as besties," Skip Bayless said. "I got no sense of any closeness between the two going into the playoff games. Their body language wasn't bestie body language."
The NBA analyst explained the reasoning behind this. He believes that Durant supported the Nets' decision to sideline Irving.
Friendship between Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving may be over
Kyrie Irving missed more than 50 games last season as he refused to get vaccinated. His absence contributed to the Brooklyn Nets ending the season as the seventh seed in the East.
While Durant and Irving survived the play-in tournament, the Celtics crushed their hopes of winning the title.
Skip Bayless believes the friendship was ruined when the Nets sent Kyrie Irving home since he wasn't eligible to play in road games.
"Back at that point earlier in the season when the whole organization sort of voted en masse to send Kyrie home," Bayless said. "If you can't play on the road, just stay home. Well, it looked like Kevin blessed that because Kevin was miffed, if not furious at Kyrie."
As impressive as Kevin Durant was, he couldn't carry the team further without Irving's help. Furthermore, Durant himself missed 27 games due to injury issues.
Durant may have stopped supporting Irving's decision not to get vaccinated once it started affecting the team's success.
"It looked like once that he stepped back across the line in favor of management and team, that he would no longer back Kyrie's vaccination stance or non-vaccination stance," Bayless said. "It looked like to me that Kyrie and KD parted ways."
Durant is one of the most sensitive players in the NBA
Bayless also criticized Kevin Durant, saying how moody and sensitive he is. Bayless said Durant uses other people to send a message.
"He might be the most mercurial I've ever closely observed," Bayless said. "I've also called him the thinnest skinned superstar I've ever observed."
The NBA analyst brought up Kevin Durant's burner account on Twitter and the fact that he used his brother to respond to Bayless' comments.
Trade talks for Kyrie Irving are 'frozen,' per @WindhorstESPN
The Nets are prioritizing completing a trade for Kevin Durant. https://t.co/IfVLopOqPr
While Durant is unpredictable, it will be interesting to see what happens if he gets traded to another team.