Kyrie Irving Opens Up About Nets’ Costly Harden-Simmons Trade
So, there’s been a lot of talk lately around the Brooklyn Nets' infamous trade that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Ben Simmons. And just recently, Kyrie Irving, one of the key figures in that Nets era, opened up about how that deal really impacted the franchise—and he didn't hold back.
During a livestream on his Twitch channel, Kyrie reflected on the 2021-22 season when that blockbuster trade went down. He admitted that once Ben Simmons came in and Harden was gone, the pressure on the Nets as a franchise skyrocketed. In Kyrie’s words, “a lot more pressure started to come in.” And that’s not surprising. The expectations were sky-high when Brooklyn had Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden all on the same roster. It was supposed to be a superteam era.
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And he might be right. Simmons didn’t even play in that 2021-22 season due to back surgery. Meanwhile, the Nets, without Harden’s playmaking and scoring, didn’t look nearly as dangerous. During the previous season with Harden, they actually had one of their best runs since 2013-14—making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. That playoff run famously ended with Kevin Durant’s foot barely touching the three-point line, robbing them of what could have been a game-winning shot. But once Harden wanted out, the cracks in the superteam became undeniable.
Fast forward a few years, and ESPN’s Zach Kram even named the Harden trade as Brooklyn’s biggest mistake of the last five years. He called it a “franchise-altering terrible trade.” Simmons never returned to All-Star form, averaging only 6.5 points a game for the Nets compared to 16 with the Sixers. Eventually, his value dropped so low that the team had to waive him.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for Nets fans. The dream of a “Big Three” collapsed quickly, and even though Irving, Durant, and Harden all shared the blame, Harden’s early exit marked the beginning of the end. Looking back, what was once seen as a championship-caliber trio now feels like one of the biggest what-ifs in recent NBA history.
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