On Friday night, the long-awaited duel between the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors, currently the best teams in the league (at 2 a. m. on DAZN). In the run-up to the game, Kevin Durant spoke about the change of Kyrie Irving.
Durant, who himself made a controversial switch from OKC to Golden State in 2016, sympathized with Irving’s desire to leave the Cavaliers, saying,”He has chosen the basketball route,”said Durant about Irving, who is currently blossoming after his trade with Boston.
“He’s decided to maximize his basketball skills. Many people make decisions for all sorts of reasons, for the money or a certain city, but it was a basketball move,”Durant explained,”and that’s respectable. He’s playing his best basketball now, and his team benefits from him as leader.”
Celtics started the season with a 13-2 record and currently the best team in the league, Golden State (11-3) follows in second place. Accordingly, Durant is looking forward to the duel.
“Everyone touches the ball, everybody is in motion and everyone feels good. This sport is about feeling good and you want to feel the trust of your coach. Brad Stevens puts his players in exactly the right position. That’s what Steve Kerr is doing for us too,”explained the final MVP.
The fact that Irving, like Durant a year before him, is getting a lot of headwind from Cleveland for his decision should not affect him, KD continued:”The fans don’t matter at all,”Durant said,”When it comes to this kind of thing, the fans aren’t important because Kyrie is the one who has to live with his decision day after day. He made the decision for himself and no one else. Everyone is different. And you can see that it pays off for him personally.”