"If you're Kyrie Irving, you would want to go out there and prove to the world, Kevin Durant, by the way, you made that big shot” - Brian Scalabrine challenges Kyrie Irving to opt-in and show his worth to the Nets
NBA and Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving has been on the airwaves all season long and that has gone up a notch of late. The superstar guard has a player option worth more than $36 million that he needs to decide upon before the June 29 deadline.
On SiriusXM NBA Radio, former Boston Celtics player Brian Scalabrine shared his belief that Irving should opt into his player option for the 2022-23 season and prove to the Nets franchise and the rest of the NBA that he is reliable. Scalabrine said:
"The guy has a $36 million dollar option and Kyrie's acting like, 'I can't believe they're disrespecting me.' Just opt-in to your contract. Just opt-in and play it out. I feel like this shouldn't be an issue. If you're Kyrie Irving, you would want to go out there and prove to the world, Kevin Durant, by the way, you made that big shot. So, why don't you go prove to the world that you still have it."
Brian Scalabrine continued:
"Why not play this year out, dominate and then go out and sign a four-year whatever. It's not like he played 29 games because of the vaccine mandate and now he is a free agent and people are saying he's not very good. You have a year to prove yourself, I don't understand why he doesn't opt-in and prove himself."
As aforementioned, Irving has only until June 29th to decide whether to exercise the player option in his contract for the 2022-23 season. If not, he will become a free agent this summer. But this doesn't mean he is going elsewhere as he could very well be holding out for a bigger contract from the Brooklyn Nets.
This week Kyrie Irving will make a decision on his $36 million player option for the 2022-23 season.
@Scalabrine believes he should opt in and “prove himself”. https://t.co/K4ut3jnXKb
Kyrie Irving's three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets
When the Brooklyn Nets landed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in the summer of 2019, they appeared to be a new powerhouse in the NBA and especially the Eastern Conference. The Nets were the team to beat once Durant returned to action after rupturing his Achilles in the NBA Finals earlier that year.
Fast forward to the summer of 2022, and all the Brooklyn Nets have to show for these top-tier acquisitions is one series win in the postseason last year against the Boston Celtics. To make matters worse, the Nets added James Harden to play alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, branding themselves as heavy championship favorites.
Kyrie Irving in his 3 season with the Nets:
27.1 PPG
4.7 RPG
6.0 APG
1.4 SPG
49.0 FG%
40.6 3P%
92.0 FT%
6 playoff wins
Time to reunite with LeBron? https://t.co/yHNec2Vk6U
Irving, in his three seasons with the Nets, has played more than 30 games in just one season. His scoring output, however, has been tremendous; he is averaging 27.1 points on a nightly basis for Brooklyn, but availability continues to be the biggest issue regarding the guard. Irving has consistently missed games for non-injury reasons.
The Brooklyn Nets' experiment has been a colossal failure as Kyrie Irving is on the brink of walking away from the team for nothing in return.