Kyrie Irving reacts to Kevin Durant's trade to Phoenix Suns / News - Basketnews.com

Kyrie Irving was glad Kevin Durant got out of Brooklyn.

Credit: Twitter/MarkG_Medina Credit Twitter/MarkG_Medina

Several days after Kyrie Irving departed the Brooklyn Nets to join the Dallas Mavericks in a trade, his former teammate Kevin Durant was traded as well and will now continue his career with the Phoenix Suns.

Kyrie Irving

MIN:36.92PTS:27.02 (55.75%)REB:5.07As:5.24ST:1.05BL:0.83TO:2.34GM:41ProfileNBA2022/2023

The news broke out late Wednesday evening US time, right when Kyrie was participating in the post-game press conference after his first game as a Maverick. Asked to share his thoughts about the KD trade, the guard provided a lengthy answer.

"I'm just praying for his happiness and praying for his well-being. We had a lot of conversations throughout the year about what our future is going to look like, there was still a level of uncertainty but we just care about seeing each other be in places where we can thrive," Kyrie said.

"Whether it be together, whether it be apart, there's never one moment where I felt like he's been angry at me for the decisions I made or I've been angry at him," he explained. "We just try to understand each other better and grow as human beings, grow as brothers."

Irving and Durant will now play in the Western Conference against one another. This will be Kyrie's first time not playing in the Eastern Conference while KD spent the vast majority of his career in the West.

"The business changes so quickly, he's getting a little bit older, I'm getting a little bit older. I just love the competition now that we can be in the same conference, and I welcome all of that," Irving told the media. "I'll probably get to see him a little bit more, I'll probably play against Phoenix a lot more. That's what I'm looking forward to. I'm glad he got out of there."

Later on, Irving revealed that both he and Durant were thinking about moving on from the Nets organization long before the actual trades happened.

Kyrie Irving

Team:Dallas MavericksPosition:PG, SGAge:30Height:191 cmWeight:87 kgBirth place:Melbourne, AustraliaProfileNewsStatistics

"This was in the works after year one. I was not sure whether I wanted to be in Brooklyn long-term. Because of the things that happened behind the scenes, I just did my best to put my head down and work as hard as I could," the player shared.

"There were some unfortunate circumstances that came up there that were out of my control whether it be the mandate with the vaccine, missing games, being suspended, or just little things that I think just put wrenches on our journey."

The Brooklyn Nets project was initially centered around the superstar trio of Irving, Durant, and James Harden. All three stars played just 16 games together, winning 13 of them.

"We had James, we were supposed to be the superteam. I would like to say something about the superteam with me, James, and KD that everybody thinks should have worked. We played very limited time together, there were a lot of injuries and things that took place, and I would have liked to see it work for the long-term but there are no mistakes, no coincidences," Kyrie explained.

"We have to move forward. I'm happy that I can look back on that journey and reflect on a lot of things from those guys, my teammates in Brooklyn, and just my journey throughout this," the star guard concluded.

Irving scored 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting in his Mavericks debut last night, grabbing 4 rebounds, and dishing out 5 assists in a winning effort against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Full Kyrie Irving's answer:

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