The Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving spoke Monday a few rocky low season that at occasions appeared prefer it may finish with each of them taking part in for different groups.
Irving, whose contract negotiations and unwillingness to be vaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus dominated headlines for a lot of the previous 12 months, mentioned he felt as if the Nets had given him an ultimatum.
“I gave up 4 years, 100 and one thing million deciding to be unvaccinated,” Irving mentioned on the Nets media day. “And that was the choice: It was contract, get vaccinated or be unvaccinated, and there’s a degree of uncertainty of your future — whether or not you’re going to be on this league, whether or not you’re going to be on this workforce, so I needed to cope with that real-life circumstance of dropping my job for this resolution.”
Irving was eligible for max contract extensions value as much as about $245 million, however he and the Nets didn’t attain an settlement on one. As an alternative, Irving opted into the ultimate 12 months of his contract, which pays him $36.5 million this season. He mentioned he had different choices — however not many — and determined that staying in Brooklyn was the only option for him. Irving performed in simply 29 regular-season video games in 2021-22, principally as a result of he was ineligible to play at house due to native vaccine mandates.
Quickly after Irving opted in to the final 12 months of his Nets contract in June, Durant requested a commerce, which he mentioned was due to uncertainty and accountability points within the group. He denied reviews that he needed to be traded as a result of he was upset that the Nets didn’t conform to a long-term contract with Irving.
“I need to be in a spot that’s steady and making an attempt to construct a championship tradition,” Durant mentioned. “So, I had some doubts about that.”
The Nets shopped Durant to different groups, however on Aug. 23, Durant and the Nets introduced that that they had “agreed to maneuver ahead with our partnership.”
Durant mentioned he wasn’t disenchanted or stunned to return to the Nets: “I do know I’m that good that you simply simply not going to provide me away.”
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