“Kyrie Irving really is a pure basketball player”: Kevin Durant had the highest praise for his Nets teammate on the Knuckleheads Podcast ahead of Kyrie’s return

Kyrie Irving returns to an NBA court this evening alongside Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets. We look at an interview illustrating Kyrie’s team mentality.

Kyrie has taken nothing but Ls from media and social media over the past few years. Since he won his championship ring and then departed for Boston, basketball fans don’t seem to have quite forgiven him.

But his reality is clear – Irving will forge a unique path as a sportsperson for himself. No action underlines this more than his decision not to get any Covid-19 vaccine. It would ordinarily be a matter of shame for someone to be so stubbornly opposed to a team’s interest.

But Kyrie Irving also seems to be too popular to be messed with, even by a billionaire owner. Joe Tsai, who’s a strong endorser of the vaccination drive across the globe, gave up in the face of a Covid-19 outbreak that left half his roster isolated and in protocols.

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Despite all of these recent events, one thing has always been abundantly clear. There isn’t a single teammate of Kyrie – past or present – who’d have a bad thing to say about him. He’s beloved by all of them, and he even mentors Boston’s young guns off the court today.

Kevin Durant says Kyrie Irving played a mentorship role on the Brooklyn Nets last year

Kevin Durant believes one of the ways that Kyrie Irving demonstrates his love for basketball and his team mentality is through the way he approaches the betterment of his teammates – past and present. He said as much on the Knuckleheads Podcast:

“How he works on his game, how he influences the young dudes – like that s**t was impressive. Nobody talks about that with Ky, he took a lot of dudes under his wing this year.”

“Like everybody who he’s working out with – you know – just being there with ’em. He really is an all-around, just true basketball player, pure basketball player.”

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