The viral video of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving talking during the 2019 All-Star Game spawned plenty of speculation about their respective futures, and sure enough, KD later admitted they were talking about teaming up. But now more details are coming out about how they hatched their plan to become teammates, and this latest anecdote from Matt Sullivan's Nets book titled “Can't Knock the Hustle” happened before that All-Star Weekend.
About a month earlier at Irving's mansion in Weston, Massachusetts, Durant joined the then-Boston Celtics star for dinner the night before the Golden State Warriors played the Celtics. They discussed their situations and decided that they wanted to take control of their destinies and team up.
Irving was done with the Celtics and wanted to find a way home to Brooklyn to play for the Nets, which would be a form of self-care for him. Durant thought the Warriors had peaked and was ready to move on from a franchise that would always view Stephen Curry as the face of it. So, it made sense for them to join forces and chart their own path.
KD would follow Kyrie’s lead. That night in the suburbs, he even ate a vegan burger for the first time. “I could f— with this,” he said. A super-team was starting to be formed, over a side of kale salad and… clink.
KD and Kyrie went upstairs to the playroom, shared a vegan smoothie, shot a Nerf ball into a toy hoop and played NBA2K. Controlling miniature versions of themselves and their teammates, like marionettes, they wondered how else they could string together a team that was going somewhere. “And from that point,” Kyrie said, “we took the power back and put it in our hands.”
Durant tearing his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals was certainly a setback, but the two followed through on their plan to join the Nets that offseason. They're now one win away from the Eastern Conference Finals, but now it's Irving who's out injured. A healthy Brooklyn team is the favorite to win it all, and perhaps could win the title even with the injury issues.
It's fascinating to see these new details come out about the KD-Kyrie partnership. Warriors and Celtics fans surely aren't surprised to read about stuff like this given it was speculated in the moment, but it still has to sting a bit.
Of course, KD and Kyrie just did what was best for them, and we'll see how much success they have with the Nets and if they'll stay happy.
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