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The Phoenix Suns are acquiring 13-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski early Thursday. Phoenix is sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap to Brooklyn, according to sources. The picks, in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, are unprotected. The Suns are also getting forward T.J. Warren in the trade, sources said. Durant wanted the move and new Suns majority owner Mat Ishbia pushed to get a deal done ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline. The Nets are expected to explore trade...

Kyrie Irving has stirred up more drama in Brooklyn, but this time could be the last time. The star has told the Nets he wants out, preferably by Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. The news was first reported by The Athletic, and confirmed by the Post through a source close to the situation. The source did not say what Irving’s breaking point was or why the West Orange, NJ native wants a trade from his hometown team. Despite last summer’s testy negotiations, Brooklyn had been in contract talks with Irving recently and offered an extension. The Athletic reported that the offer...

The Nets fired Steve Nash on Tuesday amid a disappointing 2-5 start that has been marred by off-court drama, including Kyrie Irving’s social media promotion of an anti-Semitic film. The team’s interim head coach is Jacque Vaughn. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania both reported that the Nets plan to hire Udoka to replace Nash. Udoka was suspended by the Celtics for at least a year after an investigation revealed that he had an affair with a female subordinate. Charania reported in The Athletic that Udoka also made “unwanted comments” to the woman, and Wojnarowski reported that the...

After the Nets star on Thursday tweeted a link to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” a 2018 film that is filled with anti-Semitic disinformation, he began to receive blowback from his employers on Friday. A Rolling Stone story cited the film’s statements, including claims that “many famous high-ranking Jews” have “admitted” to “worship[ing] Satan or Lucife.” The report called the film “venomously anti-Semitic.” “I am an OMNIST and I meant no disrespect to anyone’s religious beliefs,” Irving posted to Twitter on Saturday afternoon. “The ‘Anti-Semitic’ label that is being pushed on me is not justified and does not...

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is standing his ground over his decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Irving, who made his season debut Jan. 5, told reporters after practice Friday he still believes he made the "right decision" despite pushback he received over his decision to remain unvaccinated. "I can really say that I stood firm on what I believed in, what I wanted to do with my body. That should be not just an American right, that should be a human right," Irving said. "And when you stand for something like that, in a society that we’re in...

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ripped the National Basketball Association (NBA) Tuesday after fining the Brooklyn Nets $50,000 for allowing an unvaccinated Kyrie Irving to step inside the locker room. “One final example for just how asinine this is: the NBA just fined Kyrie Irving $50,000 because [of] their rules, the rules of New York City,” Cruz said. “Here’s how idiotic it is: Kyrie Irving could go to a game, could sit in the stands not being vaccinated, which he did. That was perfectly okay. But if he actually plays, that’s not permissible.” “Because apparently in addition to Diet Coke...

ORLANDO, Fla. — In a career of great offensive nights, this was Kyrie Irving’s greatest. The Nets star’s mesmerizing 60 points were a career-high and a franchise record, while matching an NBA season-best. Those 60 points also led the Nets to their fourth consecutive win, a 150-108 rout of the Magic, as Irving was showered with cheers and serenaded with chants of “Kyrie! Kyrie!” from the Amway Center crowd of 15,282. The irony of the Magic crowd reveling in Irving’s magic while he still can’t play on his home court at Barclays Center wasn’t lost on the Nets. Now Irving...

When Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov sold the Brooklyn Nets more than two years ago, he gave up ownership of the NBA franchise partly because of pressure from Vladimir Putin, The Post has learned. Events that led Prokhorov’s 2019 sale of the Nets and Barclays Center to Chinese billionaire Joe Tsai stretch back five years earlier, according to sources close to the situation. At the time, the US and European Union had begun to apply sanctions on Russia for taking over Crimea. But as tensions between the US and Russia over Crimea grew, Putin in 2016 also began pressuring Prokhorov to...

KYRIE IRVING OF THE BROOKLYN NETS After all the back and forth, and Kyrie sitting out half the season, it appears the Nets can simply pay $5K per game to allow Kyrie to play in home games in Brooklyn. The Nets have a total of 22 home games remaining. Kyrie Irving could be available in Nets home games if Brooklyn is willing to pay a ‘small fine’, per @SBondyNYDN1st offense: Warning.2nd offense: $1K fine.3rd offense: $2K fine.4th offense: $5K fine.5th offense to infinity offenses: $5K fine(Via https://t.co/g9z4zDGSRz) pic.twitter.com/3WXCfxdULm— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) January 12, 2022

If you were looking to see Kyrie Irving back to work with the Brooklyn Nets, you had to look fast because it’s already over. Less than 24 hours after rejoining the team part-time, the Nets announced that Irving – the league’s most outspoken anti-vax mandate proponent – had entered the NBA’s coronavirus protocols. According to Yahoo: "The 29-year-old point guard has not played a single NBA game this season after being benched by the Nets over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Now, Irving must return negative tests for five consecutive days before he is eligible to return to...

Kyrie Irving finally is headed back to the Nets, at least on a part-time basis. The unvaccinated Big 3 guard has begun the process to return to the COVID-hampered squad as a player eligible to participate in road games outside New York, according to multiple reports. Irving hasn’t played this season because of his refusal to comply with New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but The Athletic reported earlier this week that there was “renewed optimism” for a potential return at some point this season. With Irving barred from participating in home games at Barclays Center, Nets GM Sean Marks declared...

Mayor-elect Eric Adams is entirely right to slam the “professional” rioters and anarchists who pour into the city’s streets after events like the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. Unfortunately, though, many of them are anything but outsiders. He was commenting on the crews who in the name of “justice” caused chaos across the city. They vandalized vehicles in Queens, even marking a car with handicapped plates with “F—k you” graffiti in black spray paint. They jumped on cars, stole American flags and vandalized innocent strangers’ homes. Roughly 300 other protesters gathered outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where the Nets played the Orlando Magic...

The Nets’ home opener was a wreck, from the testy pro-Kyrie Irving protests outside that forced Barclays Center to briefly close its doors, to getting their doors blown off in a 111-95 loss to the Hornets. After leading by double-digits just before halftime and by nine in the third quarter, the Nets got blitzed 32-17 in a sorry fourth quarter to lose their home opener before a sellout crowd of 17,732, including Jay-Z sitting right next to their bench. [cut] Durant had a game-high 38 points, but James Harden, who scored 15 points, was the only other Net in double-figures....

MILWAUKEE — The Nets having to watch the Bucks get the championship rings they thought should’ve been theirs was a slap in the face. What Milwaukee did to them after that was a punch in the mouth. Brooklyn got blitzed right out of the gate Tuesday against uber-physical Milwaukee, falling into a huge hole and dropping their nationally televised season opener 127-104 in a raucous Fiserv Forum. The sellout crowd of 17,341 came for the ring ceremony, and stayed to watch the Nets get their collective bells rung. The Nets had lost all five of their trips to Milwaukee last...

The Brooklyn Nets won’t allow basketball star Kyrie Irving to participate in any team activities until he receives the COVID-19 vaccine, the team announced Tuesday. “Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,” general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose,” it continued. “Currently, the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not...

In the wake of Nets star Kyrie Irving’s apparent refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the 29-year-old will not play until he does, the team announced in a surprise statement Tuesday morning. Exactly one week before the Nets kick off their regular season against the Bucks, the team announced Irving will not practice or play — even during away games, where he is allowed to participate. “Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,” the...

NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Griffin is joining the collection of stars in Brooklyn. The six-time All-Star agreed to sign with the Nets, a person with knowledge of the details said Sunday. The Brooklyn Nets confirmed the deal Monday. Griffin became a free agent Friday when he completed a buyout agreement with the Detroit Pistons. He cleared waivers Sunday and was eligible to sign with any team. The often-injured forward decided to join All-Stars Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden in Brooklyn, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there was no announcement.

Wildlife rescuers responded to a reservoir in India where an elephant became stranded in the water with its legs tangled in a fishing net. The Forest Department said rescue crews responded to the Nugu reservoir, near Bandipur, when an elephant was seen standing in place in the water for more than three hours, sparking suspicions that the animal's legs were tangled in an illegal fishing net. The crews confirmed the elephant was caught in a net, but they couldn't get close enough to help because the animal would splash at boats that approached. The elephant finally allowed the rescue boats...

The Kyrie Irving mystery deepened even further on Tuesday, when video seemingly showing the Nets star maskless at a large gathering appeared online overnight. Late Monday, videos showing Irving — who has been on personal leave from the Nets — his older sister and his father at a birthday party emerged on Instagram. Asia turned 30 on Tuesday, while Drederick turned 55 on Monday. It is not clear if the video is current. The NBA is reviewing the video. Irving has sat out the past three Nets games for what the team has called personal reasons and had already been...

Kyrie Irving didn’t fly with the Nets for Friday’s game at Memphis, and his status (along with that of Kevin Durant) is still up in the air for Sunday’s home tilt against the Thunder. A source familiar with the situation told The Post that Irving is fine physically, but was upset by the attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington by supporters of President Donald Trump. The All-Star isn’t AWOL, and the team has been aware of why he’s not playing. Irving, in essence, took personal days, according to a source.