Unable to get a new contract, Kyrie Irving is looking for a new address.
A person with detailed information said Friday that the All-Star guard has asked the Brooklyn Nets to be traded.
The request comes less than a week before the trade deadline and likely signals the end of his tenure with the franchise at or after the end of this season.
Irving requested after talks about a new contract, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the talks were to remain private. It was first reported by ESPN and The Athletic.
Irving is eligible for a contract extension, but the Nets declined to grant him one last summer. Irving’s agent and stepmother, Shetelia Irving, told Bleacher Report last week that she had reached out to the Nets about a new deal. Kyrie Irving – whose current deal with the Nets expires after this season – is eligible for a four-year contract worth up to $200 million.
Shatelia Irving told Bleacher Report, “I’ve reached out to the Nets about this.” “We haven’t had any significant conversations to date. The desire is to make Brooklyn home, with the right kind of expansion, which means the ball is in the Nets’ court to communicate now if they share that desire.”
Irving and the Nets were thought to be headed for a long-term extension in 2021 after Kevin Durant signed one. Instead, Irving proved himself unreliable, missing games for reasons unrelated to basketball, and the Nets changed their minds about locking down a long future with the point guard.
The Nets — after a 43-point loss at Boston on Wednesday — open a five-game homestand against Washington on Saturday. Irving is not listed on his injury report, meaning he is available to play. They play six of their last seven games before the All-Star break at home; The only “road” game in that stretch is at the New York Knicks.
But whether Irving will be a part of any of this is not clear yet.
A tweet was posted to Irving’s account shortly before the first reports of the trade request emerged; As is often the case with Irving when it comes to social media posts, it was not certain what exactly he was referring to in that post.
“To my peers: Just be yourself and grow! Surround yourself with people who celebrate you unconditionally and appreciate the hard work you put in. Distance yourself from those who manipulate. , hate and hurt,” read the tweet.
Brooklyn is 31-20 this season, fourth in the Eastern Conference standings entering Friday, and has gone 4-7 since fellow All-Star Durant suffered a knee injury in a game at Miami on Jan. 8. Is. Durant could return during this homestand, as he’s been on record saying he wants to play in the All-Star Game on February 19th – so, presumably, he’ll be back with the Nets before then.
Irving is playing well in Durant’s absence, averaging 30.3 points in the last 10 games. Perhaps he will interest teams that were reluctant to make a deal for Irving last summer after admitting that his perceived unreliability left him off-market.
Durant asked the Nets for a trade last summer before cooler heads prevailed. And last year at this time, Brooklyn traded James Harden — who was part of the Nets’ idea it would be a Big Three of Durant and Irving — to the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal that brought Ben Simmons to Brooklyn.
Whatever happens between now and Thursday, it’s officially the start of another new saga surrounding Irving, who signed with his hometown team in the summer of 2019, along with Durant.
He was suspended by the Nets for what became the first eight games of the season after the team said it was disappointed by his repeated failure to “state unequivocally that he has no antisocial convictions.” Shortly after Irving refused to issue an apology, NBA commissioner Adam Silver sought to post a link to an antisemitic work on his Twitter feed. Irving also wound up losing his long relationship with Nike, which was largely fueled by what he tweeted and the subsequent reactions.
On the day the Nets reinstated him in November, Irving said, “I don’t stand for hate speech or antisemitism or anything that goes against the human race.”
Irving also missed the 2021–22 season due to his refusal to vaccinate against COVID-19, rendering him essentially ineligible to play in Brooklyn’s home games due to the season imposed in response to New York City rules. Epidemic.
He has expressed no shortage of controversial views during his career – including repeatedly questioning whether the Earth was round before apologizing to science teachers.
Irving also took a leave of absence during the 20–21 season, and general manager Sean Marks said last summer that being available to play would be something the organization considered as an extension for Irving.