Kevin Durant has opened a can of worms with his latest appearance on Mind The Game podcast. In a candid conversation with LeBron James and Steve Nash, the two-time champ dove into why things did not work out in Brooklyn despite their stacked roster. “Felt like we were committed, but everybody else wasn’t. It just was weird.” KD told the former Nets head coach. Was it a dig at his co-stars, Kyrie Irving and James Harden?
Well, Kyrie certainly felt so, as he had a harsh response to Durant’s remark on his live stream. “This was the part where I honestly looked at and I was like, when he said this, emotionally I was like ‘okay.’ We’re all committed to the goal at the end of the day, but sometimes, not everybody is gonna follow what you want them to do… Not everybody’s gonna be committed the way you want them to be committed.”
Just like KD, Irving also threw his former teammates under the bus, claiming that Nash was not even in the picture when the two former champs joined forces in 2019. Nash was hired a year later, supposedly backed by Durant, and Kyrie wholeheartedly accepted the decision: “This is your man. So, I gotta support that. You want him. Cool. You like Steve, I love Steve. As a younger brother, I’m like, ‘Okay, I don’t care.’”
However, when things did not work out under Nash’s leadership, it flipped a switch. “When you’re committed to the same goal and then a year changes things and things going on behind the scenes, it’s like, ‘Come on.’ Yeah, it was weird timing, bro. It was weird for everybody.” Irving added.
Wow! Here we have @KyrieIrving throwing @KDTrey5 under the bus saying that he and KD had an agreement when they signed up for BK and that Steve Nash was never apart of that. He says Nash was KDs choice and Kai just went along with it (sounds like he felt betrayed by the choice) pic.twitter.com/4DNH3g9JW4
— Courtside Nets (@Courtsidenets) July 23, 2025
In Nash’s first season as head coach, the Nets made it to the Conference Semis, but luck was not on their side. The infamous Durant shot occurred against the Bucks, and the team never reached the same level again. With these new player perspectives emerging, Kyrie, KD, and Harden’s friendship is also in jeopardy as the former teammates continue to play the blame game online. Looking back on his disappointing Brooklyn run, Kai wishes he had done things differently.
Kyrie Irving filled with regret, claims Nets did not want him as much as Kevin Durant
When the opportunity of teaming up with KD presented itself, Kyrie was quick to pounce on it. The idea of building up Brooklyn and putting it on the map truly excited him. Kyrie didn’t even have a proper meeting with the front office before making up his mind. But seeing how things turned out, he regrets that decision. “Literally, when I look back at that decision, I’m like, ‘Man, I should have taken some more time to delegate and figure out what’s best for me.’,” he said.
While Durant and Kyrie were a lethal duo on paper, KD had just torn his Achilles in the NBA Finals and was set to miss the entire next season recovering from the injury. “I waited for my brother to get healthy,” Ky remarked, highlighting that most people would not have been that patient.
Another reason Irving believes he should have had a detailed discussion with the Nets is to analyze their vision for the future. “I wish that we got a chance to get to know them beforehand because they wasn’t f—— with me like that… Did they want me on the team? Sure, you can say that. Kenny Atkinson wasn’t f—— with me like that. The Nets didn’t want me like that. They wanted KD.”
Clearly, it was KD’s team, and Kyrie was just a piece in the puzzle. And the situation behind the scenes only made things worse.
Sure, Kyrie does not blame the Nets, or anyone for that matter. But he believes that he was very ‘immature’ at the time and committed to the franchise blindly. “I wish I would have handled the business better and gotten a chance to know them,” he shared. That’s why Irving advised his NBA peers to learn from his mistake and get to know the front office before they make any career decision. Had Ky assessed his options once Durant got injured, his career trajectory could have looked a lot different. Don’t you think?
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