NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets already saw the return of Kevin Durant to Brooklyn last week when they lost to Durant and the Phoenix Suns in a 136-120 defeat. Now, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving will be the last member of the big three era to make his return to Barclays Center on Tuesday to face Brooklyn. No one knows what will happen.
“I have no idea what to expect in this world anymore,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said prior to Tuesday’s showdown when asked about what he thinks Irving’s return will be like. Irving had some tumultuous times during his tenure with the Nets, but Vaughn comes away from that period with a positive mindset.
“What I do know from my time with Kai is a tremendous amount of respect that he and I have for each other,” Vaughn said. Nets guard Cam Thomas spent the first 1.5 seasons of his career as a teammate of Irving and by all accounts, their time together was positive. Thomas will still see Irving as an opponent tonight despite their relationship.
“It’s good to have the competition,” Thomas said. “Those moments I live for, you know, always want to play against guys in my position like that. But, at the end of the day, he’s still my brother. But, I still got to go at him no matter what. So, it’ll definitely be good playing him here.”
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