Kyrie Irving will remain with the Brooklyn Nets next season, but he came very close to leaving.
Part of the reason for his beef with the Nets, at least initially, seemed to be a general dissatisfaction with Steve Nash as a head coach.
The idea that Nash and Irving didn’t really get along was further bolstered this week.
During a recent appearance on The Odd Couple podcast, NBA veteran Olden Polynice divulged an interesting story.
“One of the reasons why there are issues between him [Nash] and Kyrie Irving was because of a statement he made during a party at Steve Nash’s house,” the story went.
“In front of everybody, Kyrie said, ‘You need to give those MVP trophies back to Kobe [Bryant] because you didn’t deserve them.’ To me, that was the beginning of the end for the Nets.”
Yikes.
The Nets are a powder keg of craziness at the moment. Everything from the relationship between Irving and Kevin Durant to their latest free agency moves is under extreme, extreme scrutiny.
It doesn’t feel like an environment particularly conducive to winning.
Obviously if the Nets come out and dominate in 2022-23, run through the playoffs and then win a championship none of this will be remembered.
Nobody will care that Irving’s disrespect of Nash is eerily similar to James Harden’s disrespect of him. Or that it is quickly becoming apparent that of Durant, Irving and Harden, it doesn’t really seem like any of the three liked Nash all that much.
Yikes. Hope it was worth it.https://t.co/KPu233wY8I
— Game 7 (@game7__) August 28, 2022
All anyone will focus on is the results.
So if a title is won, everyone will move forward happy and with no regrets.
But if the Nets struggle to start next year, expect for Nash’s seat to get mighty hot as the season progresses.
Related: Rockets Player Called Out For ‘Pulling A Paul Pierce’ (Video)
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.