A new report indicates that Kyrie Irving’s effort to recruit Anthony Davis to the Boston Celtics collapsed after a “falling out” developed between the two players.
Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com looked at the efforts of then-Celtics guard Irving to recruit Davis, who was forcing a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans.
“It was looking like Anthony Davis was going to go to Boston with Kyrie there for a stretch,” a league executive told Heavy. “That’s what Kyrie wanted. Boston would have had to work it out with New Orleans, but once Anthony made his decision of where he wanted to go, the Pelicans wouldn’t have had much choice.
“But that’s the way it was going. I think people assumed at first that Durant would stay with Golden State, so Kyrie was courting AD to join him in Boston. It was looking good, but then Anthony and Kyrie had a little bit of a falling out for some reason. I think Kyrie fell more in love with Kevin Durant as opposed to Anthony Davis. Maybe he realized KD was possible.”
Exactly what the falling out entailed is unknown. However, after the 2018-19 season, Irving himself left the Celtics and joined Durant with the Brooklyn Nets.
Davis was ultimately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he joined Irving’s former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James.
During the first season of Davis and James playing together for the Lakers, the team captured the franchise’s first NBA title in a decade.
Yet, during the past two seasons, injuries to both players have resulted in struggles for the Lakers. Davis is currently out for an extended period, with hopes that he can return before the end of the regular season.
Despite Irving’s checkered history with three different teams and his personality quirks, he did connect on the winning shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. That clutch effort gave the Cavaliers their first and only NBA championship.
Still, Irving’s hesitance in getting vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus hasn’t allowed him to play any home games for the Nets this season. That stubborn approach and his frequent injuries may call into question how many players would be comfortable playing with him in the future.
For now, the Nets are challenging for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Lakers are simply seeking to reach the postseason. Davis and Irving never did manage to come together, with what might have been the only thing that remains for Celtics fans.
