Kyrie Irving talks about normal people and him being a hero, accepts his $37 million player option to say in Brooklyn
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving will opt into his $37 million player option for the 2022-23 season. It has been one hell of a week for Nets fans, and now it looks like the mini-saga of potentially losing both Kevin Durant and Irving has come to an end.
Yesterday morning, the Nets basically encouraged Kyrie Irving to go out and find a suitor for a sign-and-trade deal. For whatever reason, reports came out that the Los Angeles Lakers were front runners to land Kyrie, and that he would give up roughly $30 million to play with LeBron in Los Angeles.
No one on earth would just give up $30 million. That made zero sense from the jump, and reports indicated that the Lakers were the only team that even talked to the Nets about the possibility of landing Irving. So basically, Kyrie didn’t want to stay in Brooklyn but no one wanted to trade for him and now he is going to take $37 in his player option.
Of course, Irving could still be traded, but that seems unlikely given the fact that no one is interested. By opting-in to his player option, he’s is eligible to be traded to any of the 29 teams in the NBA and the hard cap restriction doesn’t apply. If not, he’s a 2023 unrestricted free agent. Again, the issue lies with the fact that no one wanted to trade for Kyrie Irving.
Go back to Brooklyn, play another year. Brooklyn will be a dumpster fire (again) this season, and then Kyrie, who will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023, will look for another team.
Talk about a “prove it” year for Mr. Irving.
So of course Shams comes out saying that Irving is bypassing multiple opt-in trade scenarios to “fulfill his four-year commitment to the Nets and Kevin Durant.”
To be clear, Irving is no hero for taking $36 million and staying in Brooklyn. No one wanted him.
As for the quote that Irving dropped yesterday when Irving finally agreed to opt-in, I have zero clue what he’s talking about. Is Kyrie suggesting that he is different because he accepted $36 million and is now a hero for opting in to a player option on his very own contract?
Now, the Brooklyn Nets appear to be set to return next NBA season with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons. A trio of players that have played ZERO games together. Only one of them, Kevin Durant, appears to have a good head on his shoulder while the other two are absolute psychopaths.
My guess, this isn’t the end of the constant dumpster fire in Brooklyn.
Mandatory Credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
