Editors’ note, Feb. 10, 1:39 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect the Nets’ Twitter posts thanking Kyrie Irving hours after its original publication.
The relationship between Kyrie Irving and the Nets certainly seemed acrimonious by the end, when the team traded the All-Star point guard to the Mavericks following his surprise mid-season trade request. That much was clear by Irving’s statements about his now-former team after arriving in Dallas.
“I just know I want to be in a place where I’m celebrated, not just tolerated or kinda dealt with in a way that doesn’t make me feel disrespected,” Irving said at a press conference on Tuesday, via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “There were times throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn where I felt very disrespected and my talent—I work extremely hard at what I do, no one ever talks about my work ethic, though. Everyone talks about what I’m doing off the floor. I just want to change that narrative, write my own story and just continue to prepare in the gym, and now that I’m in Dallas, focus on what I control.”
The team granted Irving his trade request just two days after it was made public, and followed it up by committing to a full rebuild. Early Thursday morning, Kevin Durant and TJ Warren were dealt to the Suns for a big package including Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and four first-round picks.
Hours later, ahead of the team’s win against the Bulls, the Nets posted thank you messages to both players, and a tribute video for Durant.
Durant played at an MVP level while with the Nets, albeit in a much shorter stay than most in Brooklyn had hoped. Warren had been a nice bench addition for the team, but had played in just 26 total games for the team this year.
As of Friday morning, Brooklyn had not sent a similar “thank you” to Irving after the trade with Dallas. The last mention of Irving by the team’s official Twitter account had been the Feb. 4 injury report, when he was held out of a game following his trade request for what was called “right calf soreness.” He was traded the next day.
That changed on Friday afternoon, when the Nets sent out thank yous to both Irving and Markieff Morris, who was also included in the deal, as well as Kessler Edwards, who was sent to the Kings. They added another tweet once again thanking all five players that were dealt by the team ahead of the trade deadline,
Irving made his Dallas debut on Wednesday, scoring 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting with five assists and four rebounds in a 110–104 win over the Clippers.
