The New York Knicks status as one of the worst teams in the NBA continues this season with a 10-29 record to match. Their placing right now stems from a series of bad fortunes that began in the summer of 2019. With high hopes to land marquee free agents, the Knicks failed to capture their top targets in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Instead, both of them crossed the bridge over to the Brooklyn Nets.
According to Durant's agent Rich Kleiman, Knicks owner James Dolan, who has such a bad reputation around the league, isn't the reason why his client snubbed the Knicks in free agency, per Stefan Bondy of New York Daily News.
So why did Durant choose the Nets without even meeting with the Knicks? Kleiman said there was a combination of reasons and really didn’t specify. Asked whether Knicks owner James Dolan was a factor, Kleiman directly said, ‘No.’ He added that Durant had conversations with Kyrie Irving about the options.
It was actually his buddy Kyrie Irving who had strong inclinations to join the Nets instead of the Knicks. And as we saw, Durant joined him there shortly after Kyrie made his commitment to Brooklyn.
Kleiman, however, did clarify that while they did end up as teammates, Durant and Irving ultimately made their decisions individually. Likewise, KD's decision did not come down to a single reason, but a combination of all the factors that were present to him during the decision process.
According to sources, Irving strongly favored the Nets over the Knicks in free agency.
“Kyrie played a part in that they’re friends and communicated. I think ultimately if it wasn’t the right decision for any of one of them individually they weren’t going to go somewhere because of the other person,” Kleiman said. “I think that all of these things play a part in a decision. There is no one thing.”
For Nets fans, however, they won't see their superstar pairing until next season. Obviously, Durant has already been ruled out for the entire 2019-20 season after he tore his Achilles in last year's NBA Finals. Irving, on the other hand, is dealing with a shoulder issue and has been out of action since mid-November.
However, there are rumblings that Irving may make his on-court return by as soon as next week.
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