Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving met with NBA reporters on October 26 and the All-Star destroyed the Brooklyn Nets organization with some strong comments.
Irving, who requested a trade from the Nets last season and was traded to the Mavericks, held nothing back while talking about the Brooklyn franchise.
“I was never on bad terms with the organization,’’ Irving said. “I just think there was a lot of chaos and noise, as usual, from the media. I’m not going to blame you guys or anything, but nobody really knew what was going on behind the scenes. I’m sure that people have their sources they go to [about] what was going on and what really happened. But for me, it was the best decision of my career to ask for a trade. I knew I needed peace of mind.”
Irving refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine and that caused a lot of tension between him and the Nets organization. Irving, who signed with Brooklyn in the summer of 2019, only played in 143 games with the Nets.
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets Updates
“It was rough all the way around,’’ Irving said. “After COVID and after the situations that took place there, there were circumstances that were either in my control or out of my control. And I didn’t want to play the blame game.”
Along with not taking the COVID-19 vaccine, Irving also shared a link to an anti-semitic video. The Nets traded Irving to the Mavericks on February 6, 2023. Uncle Drew said he wouldn’t have minded if Brooklyn released him during the COVID-19 drama.
“I think my criticism is fair, as long as you keep it on the court and judge me off the success of our team and don’t try to dig too deep into who I am as a person,” Irving said. “I don’t show who I am as a person in this business, because it’s always constant, constant, constant eyewitness views, just random things that I don’t necessarily agree [with] that’s being written about me.”
NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kyrie Irving, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets Updates
Irving signed a three-year, $126 million contract with the Mavericks in the offseason. He hasn’t caused any issues in Dallas thus far.
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