Examining the Split Between Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets

Feathers were ruffled on multiple fronts in the split between Kyrie Irving and the Nets. Now the guard is one win away from the Finals.

Following an off-the-court incedent, Kyrie Irving was suspended by the Brooklyn Nets in 2022.

The incident left the Nets both without Irving's talents and lessened his value. And the subsequent suspension bothered many players within the NBA, in particular the vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics.

After the final buzzer in a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in November of 2022, Brown took his views to the postgame press conference. “He didn’t say that the organization was working together to get Kyrie back on the floor." said Brown. "He said that [Kyrie] had more work to do. And our society has more work to do, including Joe Tsai. It’s 2022. It takes 10 minutes of time to see who these business owners, corporations etc., who they’re associated with and who they’re doing business with, who they’re affiliated with."

"I’m vice president of the (NBPA) union, and it’s part of my job to protect our players legally," as Brown continued on. "And to see Phil Knight first come out and condemn Kyrie, and also see Joe Tsai say he has more work to do, I think it’s time for a larger conversation.”

When it was finally time for Irving and the Nets to go their separate ways at the trade deadline in 2023, the Nets owner didn't pull punches, making sure Irving was not traded to his preferred destination, which at the time was the Los Angeles Lakers. As the news got around, players within the association like Draymond Green publicly reacted.

As Brooklyn moves forward with their big market team playing in New York City, a place that has just about everything but good weather in the winter, it'll be very hard to compete with their New York rivals for the top free agents in free agency.

After the Dallas Mavericks came out victorious versus the Nets in February, the former Nets guard opened up on what Brooklyn could have been if a thing or two happened differently when he was there.

"I just think it was time to get my own peace of mind and go somewhere where I was able to thrive and be in a situation where I didn't have to worry about kind of behind-the-back talk or the media talk or, not knowing how to handle real-life circumstances that has nothing to do with the game of basketball." Irving said.

"It has everything to do with how you handle someone as a person. While I was here, I learned a lot of lessons. I've made my peace again, like I said, and I just want to move forward ... Things could have changed, and you look back at the past, and you have 20-20 vision, (like) this could've gone right or if this would've happened. If I didn't get injured versus the Bucks, do I still ask for a trade? If KD's foot wasn't on the 3-point line, are we talking about a different legacy here? If James doesn't ask for a trade — I can look forward to the rest of my career and just handle it in Dallas and going after my second championship.”

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Ajayi Brown
AJAYI BROWNE

Ajayi has covered the NBA for several years, most notably covering the league at large for SLAM and the Brooklyn Nets at several outlets before joining Inside the Nets.