Kyrie Irving recently opened up about still being in the “grieving process” after Luka Doncic was traded away from the Dallas Mavericks. While he acknowledged how much he would miss his former teammate, Irving expressed his enthusiasm about the opportunity to finally team up with Anthony Davis.
Irving also reflected on a time several years ago when he thought he might have the chance to play alongside Davis on the Boston Celtics. He explained that the dream scenario involved the two stars joining forces with Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum in Boston.
“Yeah. That has no foreshadowing either, on anything, guys. Just letting you know right now,” Irving said with a laugh, about the swirling trade rumors about Durant ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. “We were discussing in 2018, just for everybody at home that’s watching, because I know all of these words are going to be looked at.”
Irving went on to explain that in 2018, he imagined a team with himself, Davis, and Durant alongside Tatum, believing that Tatum’s growth could complement the veteran stars. “But yeah, in 2018, it was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one team and still keep JT and let him grow and then see how it goes.” However, he quickly added that at the time, the young Celtics players weren’t prepared for the trade rumors surrounding them.
“Our locker room splintered after that once they found out. It wasn’t JB (Jaylen Brown) or JT, but our locker room splintered once they started figuring out the trade rumors and our season started going in a whole different way,” he said, reflecting on the impact the speculation had on team chemistry.
Kyrie Irving Says Dream Was To Team Up With Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum In Boston https://t.co/vebhCpMFWa
— RealGM (@RealGM) February 5, 2025
