In the world of competitive sports, there are no friends or enemies – only interests. The top athletes have proved this time and again on the field. Something similar happened when Kyrie Irving defended his former teammate James Harden recently after a long period of reportedly not seeing eye to eye with each other.

The duo had their fair share of difficulties in the past when playing together at Brooklyn Nets. Now, with Kyrie raising his voice in support of Harden, their dynamics may not actually be what the fans made of it.

Why did Kyrie Irving defend James Harden?

The news of Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden handing in a trade request broke out last month. Since then, the process has been quite slow, which made Harden disgruntled, as reported by ESPN. The 33-year-old called the 76ers president Daryl Morey a ‘liar’ for not fulfilling his request. A lack of transparency in communication might have caused a delay in the trade.

Reacting to the coverage, Kyrie called out the reporter for tagging Harden as ‘disgruntled’. The Dallas Mavericks guard decided to stand by his fellow NBA superstar following his allegation. This came as a shocker for NBA fans due to various reasons.

During their time together at Nets, the two shared a complicated relationship. Many believed Harden’s move away from Brooklyn was fueled by Kyrie. The duo embraced each other since then a couple of times after their face-offs in the NBA.

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But no one expected the former NBA champion to stand up for his former teammate.

How is the NBA space taking the news?

Irving, 31, was blunt with his words against that coverage of the news. One NBA fan commented, “Kyrie backing Harden after their (alleged) fallout is not what I was expecting to see today!“

Another defended the reporter rather than supporting Kyrie.

Someone raised the point of a person naturally being disgruntled because of what happened with Harden.

One fan pointed out the correlation between the two factors to Kyrie in the comments.

A particular fan called out Kyrie in the comments, mockingly pointing out his lack of accountability in the past.

Some supported Uncle Drew for his courage, though. One NBA fan told him to be careful to not get blocked by the reporter.

A few fans even wanted to see them play basketball together again.

All things considered – it is proven yet again that the fans want to see the icons of the game playing together. It is not always possible, as egos and personal ambitions often ruin potential greatness. What then remains are the stories of what could have been. The relationship of Kyrie and Harden at this stage represents the same.

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It is unlikely that they would ever play again. So, Kyrie defending James without any motive was a bit shocking for the NBA world. But nothing can be said with assurance in the game of basketball. That’s the beauty of the game. That’s the beauty of the NBA.