Kevin Durant followed Kyrie Irving to Brooklyn in 2019. Three and a half years later, he followed him out the door with both requesting trades in a span of five days.

Durant's Nets tenure was marred by off-court drama and severely underwhelming on-court results. Brooklyn looked poised to make a title run in 2021 before Irving and James Harden suffered injuries in a round two series against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Nets led the eventual champions by as many as 49 points in a game-two blowout. That was the peak of Durant's time in Brooklyn.

The years since have been an exhausting downward spiral that has resulted in a complete reset. Some of it was bad luck, but the majority of it was poor judgment on Durant's part. There has been one common denominator in every development leading to the collapse of Brooklyn's once-promising big three.

Kyrie Irving.

Despite the promise shown in the 2021 playoffs, the writing had been on the wall regarding Irving well before then. Brooklyn's brass was already concerned about the guard's mood swings during a preseason trip to China just months after the star duo signed. Then after sitting out nearly his entire first year with the Nets, Irving took two extended absences during the 2020-21 regular season, leaving the team to speculate on when he would return.

After Durant implored Nets owner Joe Tsai to trade for Harden, Irving's choice to remain unvaccinated in 2021-22 drew a wedge in Brooklyn's locker room from which they would never recover. Harden grew tired of Irving's antics and forced his way to Philadelphia, saddling his team with Ben Simmons' monstrosity of a contract.

If that wasn't enough, Irving was suspended for posting a link to an Antisemitic film early this year. Then when the team miraculously rose to one of the league's best records with the guard playing at an All-Star level, he attempted to leverage the Nets into a max contract. The New Jersey native requested a trade because he felt “disrespected” that the Nets placed stipulations in their offer, a decision that blew up Brooklyn's hopes of contending for a title.

It's a series of events you wouldn't believe happened unless you lived through them. And through all of it, Durant stuck by Irving until his co-star sunk the ship and the best choice was to jump for a lifeboat. His decision to ask for a trade to the Suns marks the second time Durant asked out of Brooklyn less than a year after signing a four-year, $194 million contract.

The 34-year-old now resides in Phoenix alongside Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton. During his introductory press conference Thursday, the former MVP said he was unaware of Irving's intention to request a trade, adding that it was “tough for him to stomach” not finishing the season in Brooklyn.

“I was upset that we couldn’t finish. I thought that we had some good momentum. We were finally building the culture that we always wanted,” Kevin Durant said. “I didn’t know what was going on with Kyrie and his situation with the organization… It was a blow to our team.”

“Without him, we didn't have a clear identity. So that was tough for me to stomach… It was tough to not finish the season.”

Despite his decision to request a trade, Durant was noticeably choked up when reflecting on his time with the Nets.

“It was a lot of ups and downs, but I loved the grind. Everybody in Brooklyn loved the grind, too. So I built a family over there,” an emotional Durant told reporters in Phoenix. “They’re going to always be a part of my journey.

We didn’t accomplish what we wanted to accomplish as far as winning a championship… Everybody there, we tried our hardest every day regardless of what was going on in the media, what was going on with our teammates. Everybody who was in that gym, we grinded. I love those guys. I get emotional talking about them because that was a special four years of my career coming off an Achilles. They helped me through a lot.”

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There is no questioning Kevin Durant's commitment on the court during his time in Brooklyn. He showed up to work every day, actively seeking ways to bring the most out of his teammates while giving everything he had on the floor. Even after requesting a trade this summer, he re-committed to the franchise early this season and kept the focus on basketball.

He did everything his co-star failed to do at so many different points.

Eventually, Irving's trade from Brooklyn was too much to come back from. Durant no longer saw a roster capable of competing for a championship. Despite his role in the disastrous last two years and anecdotes about “the grind” he covets as a player, the fourth-year Net once again bailed on the commitment he made to the Nets less than a year ago.

Ultimately, Kevin Durant's time in Brooklyn won't be remembered for his historic on-court performances, but rather for historic dysfunction. And after hitching his wagon to Irving through years of unreliability, he has no one to blame but himself.