The Brooklyn Nets had to make some tough decisions during the 2022-23 NBA season when they traded away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving amid trade requests from both players. Brooklyn had tried to work things out with Irving before he ultimately decided that he wanted out and the man who wanted to go after Irving via trade gave an explanation as to why.

” I love Ky to death, right? When he was having all his problems at Brooklyn and before that, Boston, like we’re trying to get another star to pair with Luka,” former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said during his appearance on “The Arena” podcast. Cuban, who was the majority owner of the Mavericks from 2000 to 2023, managed to get Irving for what amounted to be a value deal for the former Duke Blue Devil.

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“Initially, I was like Kyrie, everybody called him a cancer. Everywhere he went, they were ready to get rid of him,” Cuban continued. “But every player I talked to loved him. I would start watching his old games. After every game, guys dap up and trade jerseys, people just would dap. They’d like hugging them like they were a cousin they hadn’t seen in forever, right? They just love the guy. Everyone I talked to, same thing.”

Irving, 33, was traded to the Mavericks, along with forward Markieff Morris, in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick, and two second-round picks (2027, 2029). Dinwiddie, who was back in Brooklyn for the second time in his career, and Finney-Smith went on to play some solid basketball for the Nets, including helping the team make the playoffs at the end of the season before getting swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.

Despite the fact that Irving was brought to Dallas to pair with Luka Doncic, the duo only played together for parts of two seasons before general manager Nico Harrison, under the direction of new ownership, traded Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024-25 season. In the end, it’s interesting to know just much how Cuban wanted to get Irving from the Nets.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban talks getting Kyrie Irving from Nets