It started on a luxury cruise ship anchored in Rio de Janiero harbor during the 2016 Olympics, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan grew as friends. KD and DJ had been close since high school. Kyrie, who had just won an NBA ring and would ring an Olympic gold, was new to the other two and as Jackie MacMullan notes in her feature on the Nets took some getting used to.
Durant even admits he had to give the tired Irving some encouragement, basketball style, to get him into the Olympic swing of things.