The word manipulated is too strong.
Let’s say Kevin Durant was persuaded by a lot of people to sign with Nets. This was Kyrie’s masterplan, not Kevin Durant’s.
Kyrie has been in his head for a long time about teaming up.
According to Marcus Thompson of The Athletic, Kevin Durant initially wanted to do the team up with the Knicks but was convinced by Kyrie to do it in Brooklyn.
The reason being?
Kyrie is a life long NETS fan. He even posted a video talking about “coming home”.
The two had hashed out a plan months before, so it was a done deal well before free agency started. The injury threw a bit of a wrench in the plan, but this has always been the plan.
Flip the page.