NBA insider believes Kyrie Irving won't get a long-term NBA deal: "He ruined that team’s chances of winning the title last season"
Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets are off to a rough start in the 2022-23 season. They’re yet again in the middle of controversy after Irving’s antisemitic comments and have just fired former coach Steve Nash.
Brooklyn is somewhat desperate to get their season back on track as this could very well be the last hurrah for “Uncle Drew” and Kevin Durant. KD is signed to a four-year megadeal but the Nets haven’t given Irving the long-term contract he wanted over the summer.
Here’s what Sports Illustrated senior writer Chris Mannix had to say about the possibility of Kyrie Irving getting another long-term deal:
"How does any team sign him [Irving] to a long-term contract? He ended the Cleveland Cavaliers' chances of winning multiple titles by forcing his way out of a championship-level team in Cleveland.
"He blew up the Celtics in his last year in Boston. He ruined that team’s [Nets] chances of winning the title last season by being so obstinate about the Covid vaccine."
Mannix added:
"Now here he is, two weeks into the season serving as a distraction for a team trying to get it together and trying to figure itself out. I don’t know how any rational GM gives him a long-term deal. As talented as he is, he is just way too big of a risk."
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For most of his career, Kyrie Irving has regularly been embroiled in one controversy after another. His most recent issue has caused an uproar in the NBA as the Brooklyn Nets and team owner Joe Tsai had to address the situation.
Howard Beck, Mannix’s co-host in “The Crossover” podcast, had trouble getting his emotions in check regarding Irving’s latest brouhaha:
"There’s a lot that Kyrie has done and that he has said in the course of his career that we may not have understood, we may not have agreed with, may have been confusing, may have been off-putting.
"But you could kind of brush aside and say, ‘Well, Kyrie’s just a unique dude and that he’s just in his own world.’ This is not that, this just isn’t that. … It’s crazy, f**king horrific."
Again, my piece on Kyrie and this whole mess:
si.com/nba/2022/10/31…
Kyrie Irving has since defended his actions, saying that he wasn’t promoting the movie or book called “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” The seven-time All-Star did remove the post after a continuous backlash from people that aren’t even basketball fans.
Charles Barkley asserts the NBA should have suspended Kyrie Irving
The Brooklyn Nets and the NBA are reportedly in ongoing discussions regarding punishment for what Kyrie Irving posted on social media. Some basketball analysts, however, are certain he won’t get anything more than a slap on the wrist.
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley asserts that the NBA promptly should have suspended the mercurial point guard:
“I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him. … You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion. I think the NBA made a mistake. We have suspended and fined people who have made homophobic slurs.
“I can’t believe that we’re not talking about basketball. We’re talking about this idiot.”
"I think he should have been suspended. I think Adam should have suspended him.”
- Charles Barkley on Kyrie Irving.
(h/t @_Talkin_NBA)
https://t.co/yYnCXFREAk
The Brooklyn Nets refused to let Kyrie Irving talk to the media after their game against the Indiana Pacers on Monday. General manager Sean Marks has already informed people that Irving’s not going to talk after the Chicago Bulls game as well, to let cooler heads prevail.