- The Nets built a Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden that looked poised to dominate the NBA.
- Less than two years later, they’ve fallen apart amid injuries, trade requests, vaccine skepticism, and more.
- The Athletic reported Sunday Kyrie Irving will head to Dallas in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and multiple draft picks.
It’s been a bumpy road for the Brooklyn Nets.
According to The Athletic, star Nets point guard, Kyrie Irving will be traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a first-round and multiple second-round draft picks.
The trade was initially tweeted on Sunday by Shams Charania, the senior lead reporter for the outlet.
—Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2023
The news breaks two days after Irving requested the trade a week ahead of the NBA trade deadline, according to ESPN, ending a long, and tumultuous tenure with the organization.
Just two years ago, the Nets looked like a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. They had just traded for James Harden, adding him to Kevin Durant and Irving to build the NBA’s most formidable offensive trio.
However, since then, their championship chase has gone off course, as they’ve dealt with injuries, trade demands, vaccine skepticism, off-court distractions, firings, and more.
On Tuesday, they fanned the flames, parting ways with head coach Steve Nash and subsequently targeting Ime Udoka, who was suspended for a year by the Celtics for a reported inappropriate relationship with a female staffer. All of this occurred as the team was handling the fallout of Irving’s sharing a film with anti-Semitic tropes and refusing to apologize for it.
Though the Nets’ championship hopes remain alive, they’ll have to clean up what has become the NBA’s biggest mess.
Here’s a timeline of how it’s happened.
