?Called Harden a Quitter?: Months After His Own Trade Saga, Kevin Durant?s First Reaction to Kyrie Irving Leaves NBA World in a Meltdown

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving recently made headlines for requesting a trade from the team. The NBA guard made the request after the Nets offered him a contract extension with a certain set of conditions that Irving reportedly did not agree to. Following that, reports of Nets superstar Kevin Durant‘s initial reaction to his teammate’s decision was soon revealed, triggering NBA Twitter to bring forth a similar situation that Durant was in just a few months ago.

Kyrie Irving will become a free agent this summer and his trade request has already reeled in a few interested teams in the league. While Irving has yet to mention his preferred destination, his options, for now, are said to be the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks.

Kyrie Irving’s trade request stuns Kevin Durant

Nets superstar Kevin Durant is currently taking time off from the court due to a left MCL sprain. As per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski’s conversation with Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman, the 2x NBA champion will most probably make a comeback at the All-Star game on February 19. Wojnarowski also recently informed that Durant was surprised by Irving’s trade news.

“Teams who are watching what happens with Kyrie Irving are really much more interested in Kevin Durant’s response to this. I’m told that the trade request surprised everyone in Brooklyn today, including Kevin Durant, so how does he respond to this?” said Wojnarowski.

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KD himself had requested a trade from the Nets during the 2022 off-season. Therefore, his reaction to Irving’s trade news prompted mixed reactions from fans online.

Below are a few of the reactions from NBA Twitter:

https://twitter.com/oder17Kugeln/status/1621647631486423040?s=20&t=ZyQmaxFJLnBNCfbkbwkr8Q

https://twitter.com/oBigDeuce/status/1621646853497360390?s=20&t=ZyQmaxFJLnBNCfbkbwkr8Q

https://twitter.com/AlexMaggardTB/status/1621724934937477120?s=20&t=ZyQmaxFJLnBNCfbkbwkr8Q

https://twitter.com/TerryGomezLV/status/1621664890313404418?s=20&t=ZyQmaxFJLnBNCfbkbwkr8Q

Durant’s controversial trade request

During the 2022 off-season, Kevin Durant dropped a similar bomb on the NBA world when he expressed his wish to leave the Brooklyn Nets. The 2x NBA Finals MVP had told the Nets to either trade him or fire the team’s head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks. Amidst all that, Durant had also listed the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns as his preferred choice of destinations.

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However, KD ultimately made the decision to stay with the Nets after both parties worked out their issues.

What did you make of Kyrie Irving’s trade request? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.