PHILADELPHIA -- Speaking for the first time publicly since the Dallas Mavericks stunningly dealt Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers over the weekend, Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said "it's still a grieving process" for him and his teammates, while also saying he was excited about the prospect of finally getting to play alongside longtime friend Anthony Davis.
"Just really shocked," Irving said after scoring 34 points in 42 minutes in a 118-116 loss to the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. "You just don't imagine you're going to get ready to go to sleep and then you find out news like that.
"It's still a grieving process right now. I miss my hermano."
In a surreal scene around the Mavericks in the wake of the trade that continues to reverberate across the NBA, Irving wasn't asked a single question about Tuesday's game, which saw Dallas fumble a chance to tie or win in the final seconds.
Instead, every question centered on Irving's reaction to the trade that sent Doncic to the Lakers for Davis, and on his past links to potentially playing alongside Davis. At several points, Irving made it clear that he's still sorting through his emotions over seeing Doncic leave after the two led Dallas to the NBA Finals less than a year ago.
"This is a business, it's way above my pay grade, and I've just got to adjust and be ready to welcome in my new teammates with open arms and kind of be ready to go back to Dallas, too, to speak in front of our fans," Irving said. "I know they are feeling it, too. I'm feeling it too, guys. So, yeah, it's just an adjustment period. I don't want to downplay this either, or disrespect our new guys. They're going to help us win, and help us build toward a championship, but just like everyone else at home, when you kind of see it from afar, it hurts."
Later, Irving said, "This is a weird case in NBA history to be a part of, but at the same time it's the nature of our business, and it is a ruthless business. So you've got to be ready to pick up the pieces and run towards the championship. That's the ultimate goal and why I play, and having other guys that are championship winners, too, helps.
"But at the same time, we still have to acknowledge our little Slovenian president is no longer here, and we've got to adjust."
That adjustment will include playing alongside Davis, a player Irving has been connected to for years. During the 2018-19 season, while Irving was in Boston, Davis was often rumored to be joining him with the Celtics.
Eventually, that Celtics team fell apart, despite an immensely talented roster, and Irving wound up leaving in 2019 to play alongside Kevin Durant in Brooklyn, while Davis was traded to the Lakers in a blockbuster deal to pair him with LeBron James.
Irving, though, explained that the plan was not just for he and Durant to team up, but for he, Durant, Davis and Jayson Tatum to eventually all play together in Boston.
"Yeah. That has no foreshadowing either, on anything, guys. Just letting you know right now," Irving said with a laugh, referring to speculation swirling around Durant, who is now with the Phoenix Suns, ahead of Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. "We were discussing in 2018, just for everybody at home that's watching, because I know all of these words are going to be looked at.
"But yeah, in 2018, it was a dream for Kyrie, AD, KD to be on one team and still keep JT and let him grow and then see how it goes. But back then, those young guys weren't ready to be in trade rumors, man. Our locker room splintered after that once they found out. It wasn't [Jaylen Brown] or JT, but our locker room splintered once they started figuring out the trade rumors, and our season started going in a whole different way."
While that Celtics team fell apart for various reasons, including Irving repeatedly calling out the younger players, the focus for Irving now is on trying to bring along Davis, and leading Dallas to an NBA championship.
The Mavericks are headed to Boston for an NBA Finals rematch Thursday night. When the schedule came out last summer, no one would have imagined this game wouldn't have Doncic as part of the Dallas roster.
But now that the shock of the trade is beginning to wear off, Irving said he believed the talent was in place for Dallas to make another deep playoff run this spring.
"We're putting the pieces together," he said. "And the tone is improving, just because everybody had questions, a little confusion, and that's about it. We're just talking to each other, making sure we're all good, and putting the game first and in a capacity where we can prepare and then off the court in practices and some dinners that we'll have, make sure we connect and make sure we do all the things to have the qualities of a championship team.
"So, same vision, just guys in the locker room are a little bit different. We're going to have to adjust, but we'll be fine."