He yelled a demonstrative “hell, no” when asked if the season put a strain on his friendship with Irving, but admitted it went through some tough moments as Durant had to carry a heavy load. Initially, the Nets banished Irving, not allowing him to play road games until attrition hit the team around the new year. “Yeah, yeah. Him not being around, wanting to be around,” Durant told Yahoo Sports. “Having conversations, missing games, missing playing together. It was not much more I could do. It was out of my control. The best I could do was come to work and be me and make sure the situation in the building was right for everybody.”