Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant not as close as they used to be

Here’s a better question: how likely is it that Durant retires with the Nets? His loyalty was always with Irving more than with the organization. According to comments made by ESPN’s Nick Friedell on SportsCenter, Durant and Irving aren’t as close as they used to be. “At every turn publicly, [Kevin Durant] has been there to support [Kyrie Irving], to say we need Kyrie, to say Kyrie can win a title with me here in Brooklyn. But I can tell you, I’ve been talking to people in the organization the last couple of weeks, when they finally sit down and talk to Kevin throughout the summer, they are trying to figure out if Kevin saw what everybody else saw. … The reason that whole season got sidetracked was because they couldn’t count on Kyrie, and they didn’t know if he was going to be out there. And the issue with Kevin is, he wants to win badly, he wants to be loyal to his friend. But I’ve been told that relationship, while very close, isn’t always as close as it appears to be.”