Kyrie Irving: “There is No Nets vs. Knicks Rivalry”

According to Kyrie Irving, there isn’t any rivalry between his Nets and the New York Knicks. New Jersey native who grew up there thinks of it more like a fan sort of a rivalry than the competition between the two teams.

Irving redeemed himself for the missed game-winner against the Timberwolves in the season opener. Uncle Drew hit a clutch three with 21.9 seconds, which put his Nets on top of the Knicks. In the moments when he took the ball, the guests were up one point, 109-108, but they couldn’t defend one of the best point guards of the last decade. Even though he could play one-on-one and try to get near the basket, Irving deliberately wanted to drain a three.

“Down the stretch when you get into possessions like that it’s a one- or two-point game a three-pointer really gives you a little bit more breathing room,” Kyrie explained his view on the entire situation. “Especially if you can go up two after they make some really big plays, and the crowd is into it.”

Barclays Center was filled with Knicks fans, who were very loud in those moments. Their team was down 19 points, and was on the verge of getting blown out, but roared its way back into this match. The Nets couldn’t get their rhythm in the final period, and had a period of more than five minutes in which they’ve scored just two points. On the other side, Knicks dropped 15. All that caused their fans to wake up and to be loud.

But Kyrie silenced them pretty ruthlessly.

The reporters wanted to know what is his stance about the intensity of the cheering and what does he thinks about the Nets-Knicks rivalry. They didn’t get the answer they wanted, that is for sure.

“What rivalry?” Irving asked. “It was more like a subway rivalry back when they played for New Jersey. But now that they’re in Brooklyn, it’s more of a battle who runs New York City. I’m not part of that.”

Nets’ superstar believes that the term “rivalry” applies mostly to the fans, who want to make it like that. Both teams are now in New York, unlike when he was a kid, and many see it as a battle of who runs the city. For Kyrie, it is not because of the franchises themselves, but because of the fans, who see it that way.

“I think it’s more or less the perspective of the fans that really build that up than the players…..Obviously, when they’re both in New York, I guess it’s supposed to be like a rivalry atmosphere.”

Although it might be a less desirable answer, Irving believes that there isn’t any hostility between the players on both sides and that they have mutual respects for one another.

Brooklyn Nets play their next game against the Memphis Grizzlies on the road this Sunday. After the first two games of the season, the have a split record of one win and one loss, but according to Kyrie in these early stages of the campaign, fans shouldn’t get carried away regardless of the results. What they need to understand is that the team is still in the process of building.

“As a team, we need to stay patient and build it step by step. There’s no rush. 80 games left. 80! Don’t get too high or too low.”

After the game against the Grizzlies, the Nets will have a couple of matches that could tell us more about their capabilities. At first, they host the Pacers at home on Wednesday, then play with the Rockets two days later, before traveling to Detroit on the second of back-to-back nights.