The New York Knicks were apparently “stunned and depressed” when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving chose the Brooklyn Nets.
As Frank Isola of The Athletic writes in his latest column, the Knicks were greatly affected by Durant and Irving’s decision to sign with the Nets — after not even meeting with the franchise during free agency.
“When free agency approached, the Knicks were optimistic that the worst season in franchise history would be saved by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant coming to the Garden. The two marquee free agents also had other ideas and chose the Brooklyn Nets.
While the Knicks have spun this notion that they didn’t want meetings with either player — as well as Kawhi Leonard — a team source insists that management was “stunned and depressed” when they learned that Irving and Durant picked the other team in town.”
The Knicks had high expectations that Durant and/or Irving would sign with the franchise. Durant even seemed to tease the idea of playing in the Big Apple as a member of the Golden State Warriors early on during the 2018-19 season. The veteran small forward scored 25 fourth-quarter points while leading the Warriors to a 128-100 win over the Knicks back in January, via Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports.
“It was great. It’s always great here,” Durant said. “It’s always loud. They enjoy every play, no matter what team it is, if it’s a good play, they’re cheering for it. That’s pure; I like that.”
While the Knicks acted as if they had no plans to meet with Durant or Irving, we all know that was far from the truth.
The bottom line is, both Durant and Irving had no interest in playing for the Knicks. The allure of playing in the Big Apple is simply not the same as it one was.
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