OKLAHOMA CITY — Kyrie Irving threw sarcastic shade at his former Nets team when he announced that the Mavericks not only won the trade that brought him to Dallas, they got the best deal in the entire NBA.
It was a huge success and was truly the beginning of the end for Brooklyn's Big 3 at the 2023 trade deadline.
Although the Nets have taken the high road in the wake of what was an acrimonious divorce, the All-Star point guard has called it quits on his former team.
“Best trade in the business, baby. We won that trade!” Irving said Friday night after the Mavericks beat the Thunder 106-98, then repeated for emphasis: “We won that trade!” I was a bad commodity.
The Nets were 31-20 when Irving demanded a trade on February 3, 2023.
The relationship between player and team has been strained by numerous events, from Irving missing two-thirds of the 2021-22 season due to his refusal to adhere to New York City's COVID vaccine requirements to his promotion of an anti-Semitic video.
James Harden eventually tired of Irving and was let go at the trade deadline in 2022. After the Nets and Irving failed to agree on a contract extension, Irving eventually asked to leave the following year.
Once the Nets traded Irving for Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie in the 1st and 2nd rounds, Kevin Durant was left as the last star and requested a trade shortly thereafter.
The era of the Big Three is dead. After the team faltered last season, the Nets are now entering the rebuilding phase.
Irving plays alongside Luka Doncic in Dallas, and the Mavericks are 23-19.
Brooklyn is 14-28 with the seventh-worst record in the NBA, though they have the most projected cap space ($65 million) and first-round picks (15) in the league, including four in a loaded June draft.
And by the sounds of it, both parties may be happier in this divorce.
