The Brooklyn Nets scored one of the biggest coups of the offseason when they agreed to terms with former Boston Celtics superstar point guard Kyrie Irving, along with Kevin Durant. As it turns out, Nets shooting guard Joe Harris had his role to play in what was actually a long courtship between Irving and the Nets.
Harris, who was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, first explained how he and Irving formed a special bond during their time together as teammates with the Cavs:
“I played with Kyrie in Cleveland, and aside from all the basketball stuff, I just enjoy being around him and hanging out with him,” Harris said, via Moke Hamilton of The Athletic.
“Kyrie and I are roughly the same age, and when we were in Cleveland, we spent a lot of time together, we were with a veteran team, a lot of older guys, so we spent a lot of time hanging.”
As it turns out, this friendship would have a huge impact on Irving's decision to join Brooklyn this summer. According to Harris, Kyrie was keeping tabs with the Nets throughout last season, and he was more than happy to share the good things they were doing in Brooklyn with his soon-to-be teammate:
“I just told him that Brooklyn is a first-class organization, how they treat the players, their approach to development, getting guys to improve, they’re focused on performance [and] making sure guys are healthy,” Harris said. “I think that’s a big thing, too, but the Nets, their performance staff does an excellent job in making sure that guys are healthy, and I think their approach is unique in that way.”
The rest, as they say, is history. This coming season, Harris will be playing alongside one of the best point guards in the league today in Irving, and along with the rest of what has evolved into a truly formidable Nets side, they all hope to take Brooklyn to new heights this term.
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