“He wanted a situation like LeBron has, or like he thinks LeBron has” - NBA insider on former NBA champion’s power within the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets have big decisions to make ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season, and league insider Steve Bulpett has revealed that Kyrie Irving wanted the kind of influence LeBron James has on teams.
Kyrie saw firsthand how LeBron had a say in roster decisions when the four-time NBA champ returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. LeBron requested that a few players be brought in, including Kevin Love, and he got his wish.
The same has played out in Los Angeles, where he influenced the decision to bring in Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. On both occasions, his decision resulted in a championship for the team.
However, Kyrie's role in the Nets has not yielded the same result. According to Bulpett of Heavy, he promised to bring in Kevin Durant for a seat at the management table.
"When Kyrie signed as a free agent, he basically said, ‘I’ll come and I’ll bring Kevin Durant.' And in return, the Nets agreed that he could have a say in the roster decisions."
"It’s not uncommon at all for general managers to talk to their top players about possible trades and free agents. That’s just smart. You’re paying your guy big money, and you want him to be on board. Plus, your guy might have another view of a situation or a player that you haven’t considered. But with Kyrie, they talked this out beforehand. He wanted a situation like LeBron has — or like he thinks LeBron has."
With the recent revelation, there is some clarity on Kyrie's press conference after the Brooklyn Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA playoffs first round. The former championship winner made comments about managing the franchise together alongside team owner Joe Tsai and General Manager Sean Marks.
Kyrie Irving addresses his contract extension with Brooklyn and sticking with Kevin Durant https://t.co/fS5x0tS4Ky
Sean Marks says the Brooklyn Nets are looking for guys who will play selfless basketball and be available
Nets GM addressed the media after their season came to an end to discuss some of the things that happened, including James Harden's trade. He also pointed out that they had not opened discussions with Kyrie regarding his future with the Nets.
"We haven’t had any of those discussions yet, so it’d be unfair for me to comment on how it looks with us and Kyrie, because, to be quite frank, he has some decisions to make on his own."
However, Marks pointed out that they are looking for players who are ready to commit and are available.
"So, he [Kyrie] has to look at what he’s going to do with his player option and so forth with that. But I think we know what we’re looking for. You know, we’re looking for guys that want to come in here and be part of something bigger than themselves — play selfless, play team basketball and be available. And that goes not only for Kyrie but for everybody here."
"We're looking for guys that want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, play team basketball, and be available. That goes not only for Kyrie but everybody here."
Sean Marks on if the Nets are committed to Kyrie long-term.
(via @SNYNets)
https://t.co/aOMnP6x6sX
Kyrie has a player option for the 2022-23 season but is yet to opt-in. The Nets were willing to offer him an extension during the 2021 offseason, but pulled back after finding out that he will be ineligible to play due to not being vaccinated for COVID-19.
The All-Star guard ended up playing only 29 games after the front office decided to bring him back for road games only.