Kyrie Irving’s tenure in Boston ended on a rather sour note, with many Celtics fans feeling as though he had a predestined plan to leave for greener pastures in the Big Apple. But if there was in fact a plan on Irving’s side, Kevin Durant wasn’t a part of it.
The former Golden State Warriors forward sat down with Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes to discuss a variety of topics for the first time since signing with the Brooklyn Nets. And, of course, his pairing with Irving was mentioned.
According to Durant, the duo’s friendship trumps anything else, while the basketball portion just sort of “came together.”
“I think the friendship part of the league has really grown, especially since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade became such great friends and ended up playing together,” Durant said. “People see friendship as the way guys are teaming up. There’s nothing wrong with people speculating. That’s just what it is, but we’re just good friends no matter what. We didn’t have to play together. It wasn’t necessary. But, we were friends before anything, and we just happened to want to hoop together. But it wasn’t a thing we planned. It just came together.”
Durant will miss a majority of next season due to a ruptured Achilles he suffered in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. He places no blame whatsoever on the Warriors in regards to the injury, as the ten-time All-Star seems to be in a very good place.
“Man, life is good,” he said. “I’ll be back playing at a high level. There’s nothing for me to worry about. I just want to keep getting better. Obviously, I need to get healthy. But just keep improving my game, mastering every part of my game. What I can do now, I feel like I can make it sharper. That’s always been my goal is to strive toward perfection in my craft, and whatever comes with that, I’m cool. It’s the dog days. Just grinding every day. Getting better, getting stronger. It’s a long process.”
Durant averaged 26 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 78 games for the Warriors last season while shooting 52.1 percent from the floor.
