Warriors Star Explains Durant-Kyrie Relationship, Talks Free Agency Plans

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have been increasingly in the news as the season progressed with questions arising about the duo’s plans when they enter free agency this summer. The Golden State Warriors small forward and the Boston Celtics guard are great friend’s off-court and multiple reports suggest they will team up next season with the New York Knicks being touted as their next destination.

Quinn Cook, the Golden State Warriors’ back-up point guard, followed Irving by playing for Duke and lived with him during his rookie year with Cleveland Cavaliers. He is a childhood friend of Durant and currently lives in the same area in Oakland as the two-time NBA Finals MVP. He shares a close relationship with both the players and while not being too sure about their free agency plans, he confirmed that Durant and the Celtics guard were tight off-court and it was not the Warriors point guard’s doing.

“They played Team USA together (in the 2016 Olympics), they both were hanging at All-Star weekends together,’’ Cook told The New York Post. “That’s how they created a friendship. I didn’t introduce them. They got close and I was already close with both of them.’’

Despite the Warriors and Toronto Raptors contesting the 2019 NBA Finals a lot of the conversation in the NBA is about what will happen after with a host of top level players entering free agency. Durant is widely expected to leave the Bay Area team regardless of the outcome in the Finals, with New York Knicks said to be leading the race to land the small forward.

Irving’s situation is a little more complicated with the Celtics point guard having backtracked from his previous verbal commitment to re-signing with the Boston franchise. The Knicks are interested but the Brooklyn Nets have been lifted to the head of the queue, while a reunion with LeBron James in Los Angeles with the Lakers has also been spoken about.

Cook, who is a close friend of Irving, is unsure about the point guard’s summer plans, but he only wishes the best to his former teammate, whose future remains the most intriguing one going into the offseason. The Celtics are not willing to give up on their player, but it is increasingly looking like the guard will look for a new franchise when he enters free agency later in July.

“I haven’t talked to Kyrie about free agency,’’ Cook said. “When I talked to him late in the season, the only thing on his mind was trying to help Boston win and we’ve been talking about life and family since. I have no idea. I’m hoping for the best for him.”