Nets: Stephen A. Smith thinks Kevin Durant controls Kyrie Irving’s future in Brooklyn
By Josh Paredes
It’s becoming a daily ritual for Stephen A. Smith to go on rants about Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. With the organization still in the process of figuring out how they’ll handle their unvaccinated star in a mandated state, the clock continues to tick for all involved.
“I’m envisioning Kyrie being part of our team,” Kevin Durant told reporters on Wednesday. “Maybe I’m just naive, but that’s just how I feel.” The comments come as Durant and James Harden still await word on how (or if) the Nets are going to incorporate their third star into the mix this season.
Having Irving unavailable for practices or home games is more than a minor inconvenience, and there might come a time where everyone has had enough. Stephen A. Smith expanded on that on his show, later sharing a clip to Twitter.
“If KD says ‘enough is enough,’ Kyrie is gone. Traded,” says Smith. “That is if the Nets could still find a team to take him at this point.”
While the notion that no other teams would be interested in obtaining Irving is ridiculous, Smith’s main point isn’t farfetched. As the greatest player in the world, Durant obviously wields the most power on this team, so any decision they make will have to go through him.
The real question is would he say such a thing? According to Stephen A, the answer is yes.
“Last night, I was on the phone with some people and I was told, ‘Don’t think for one second Kevin Durant won’t eventually give Brooklyn the ok to move this brother.’ Don’t think he’s so married to Kyrie Irving that he’s just going to tolerate all of this other stuff.”
While he doesn’t name sources in his rant, Smith has always had close ties to New York, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility he could be onto something here.
Until the Irving situation is solved, expect the media to continue to be all over the drama, whether what they say is true or not. One thing is clear — everything is going to come to a head eventually.
“There’s some stuff percolating in Brooklyn,” said Smith. “And if Kyrie don’t get back, all hell might break loose.”