Brooklyn Nets have officially kissed the Kyrie Irving era goodbye.
On Friday afternoon — four days after trading the disgruntled point guard — the Nets finally tweeted out a ‘Thank you’ to their former All-Star. That’s it, just a simple post to end their relations.
It was not the same kind of love that Kevin Durant or even T.J. Warren got from the organization.
The Suns acquired Durant and Warren from the Nets early Thursday morning. That same day, they went to Twitter to thank both players, even giving Durant a tribute video.
Irving was traded to the Mavericks on Sunday following a trade request the week prior. The Nets got Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith as part of the deal, with both players welcomed to their new team almost immediately after the deal was announced.
Irving’s departure did not come on the best of terms, of course, as there were a number of controversial moments during his time with the team, even before he demanded a trade.
While there’s no way of knowing if the Nets intentionally ignored Irving initially, it certainly seemed more than a coincidence. They also posted a thank you to Markieff Morris, who was dealt in the Mavericks trade, and Kessler Edwards, who was traded to the Kings.
“I just know I wanna be places where I’m celebrated and not just tolerated or just dealt with in a way that doesn’t make me feel respected,” Irving said Tuesday. “There were times throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn where I felt very disrespected.
“I work extremely hard at what I do. No one ever talks about my work ethic, though. Everyone talks about what I’m doing off the floor.”
If Irving felt disrespected before, the Nets’ tweet didn’t go out of its way to bridge that.