Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving's decision to join forces on the Brooklyn Nets in 2019 backfired spectacularly -- much to the delight of Boston Celtics fans.
The Durant-Irving experiment officially ended this past week when Brooklyn honored Irving's trade request by dealing him to the Dallas Mavericks, then sent Durant to the Phoenix Suns in a massive blockbuster.
Durant and Irving won just one playoff series together over three-plus seasons with the Nets despite adding a third all-world talent, James Harden, to the mix in 2021. Now, after nearly four years of more dysfunction than success, Brooklyn is forced to rebuild again, while the Celtics seemingly have removed another obstacle in the Eastern Conference.
Forsberg: Celtics' path to Finals is looking a lot less daunting
Looking back, it's a good thing the Celtics didn't make the same mistake as Brooklyn, right? Well ... that question led to quite the debate Thursday night on NBC Sports Boston's "Boston Sports Tonight."
As co-host Michael Felger pointed out, the Celtics did pursue both Durant and Irving, famously flying to the Hamptons in 2016 to try to recruit Durant to Boston in 2016 free agency. Durant signed with Golden State instead, but one year later, the Celtics traded for Irving, who spent two seasons in Boston before his unceremonious exit in 2019 free agency.
So, Felger argued, the Celtics essentially tried to do what everyone is now criticizing the Nets for doing by taking a chance on Durant and Irving. Co-host Michael Holley vehemently disagreed, however, noting that Boston's situation was different than that of Brooklyn, which added both players in the same offseason.
Boston Celtics
The debate took off from there, with Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix siding with Felger to further fan Holley's flames. Check out the full debate below and decide for yourself whose side you're on.