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Kevin Durant Blasts New York City Over Kyrie Irving Situation

Kevin Durant wants Kyrie Irving playing home games for the Brooklyn Nets

Joey Linn

Julio Aguilar | Credit: Getty Images
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On Sunday afternoon, for the first time all season, Kyrie Irving was in attendance for a Brooklyn Nets home game. As New York City mandates change, Kyrie is now an eligible spectator for Nets home games, but is still not allowed to play. The inconsistency of the mandate has everyone confused, including Kevin Durant.

"It's ridiculous. I don't understand it at all," Durant said. "We're all confused. Pretty much everybody in the world is confused at this point. Early on in the season, people didn't understand what was going on but now, it just looks stupid. Eric, you gotta figure this out." After dropping 53-points in a victory, Kevin Durant shared his thoughts on the Kyrie Irving situation.

The Nets have been allowing Kyrie Irving to play in the away games he is eligible for, which has been just 18 of them since Brooklyn decided to reinstate their veteran point guard as a part-time player. In those 18 games, Kyrie is averaging 25.9 PPG, 5.4 APG, and 4.6 RPG on 48/41/90 splits. He has been every bit of his dominant self when eligible, but so far there is no indication that this will happen at home.

With the public criticism of the inconsistent mandate becoming so prevalent, there has been optimism that it could change before the playoffs; however, NYC mayor Eric Adams has not indicated that will be the case. After Sunday's game, Kevin Durant called on him figure this out.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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