Getty Image / Maddie Meyer
Kyrie Irving can flat-out play basketball, no doubt about that. The point guard is one of the best dribblers and finishers around the rim the league has ever seen.
The problem is, the Duke product is a complete and utter headache. There may not be a more self-centered, delusional guy in all of sports, and that’s saying something.
Sometimes, it’s Irving promoting flat-earth conspiracies.
Kyrie Irving thinks the earth is flat. My point is… Duke sucks.
— Jason Selvig (@jasonselvig) October 30, 2022
And, this season, he was suspended for what was perceived as anti-semitic comments and actions stemming from a video dealing with Adolf Hitler and the Black Hebrew movement. Many thought Kyrie would simply quit basketball when Nets owner Joe Tsai suspended him. But, he returned to the Nets, and actually played pretty well.
But, this week, he demanded a trade.
Kevin Durant was ‘surprised’ by Kyrie Irving’s trade demand, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/uyD6DxZiuj
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 3, 2023
And, on Sunday, he got it.
Two days after Kyrie Irving requested a trade from the Nets, he has been traded to the Mavericks to join forces with Luka Dončić, sources tell @ShamsCharania.
More on a developing story, days ahead of the NBA trade deadline:https://t.co/LRHPj9Ajm2 pic.twitter.com/hI5tq98weT
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 5, 2023
But, reports were buzzing that Kyrie was very interested in reuniting with former Cavs teammate LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers. He obviously didn’t get his way, and many speculate it was Joe Tsai spiting Kyrie.
Latest report from @TheSteinLine confirms that one of Joe Tsai’s presumed objectives in a Kyrie trade was to not send him to his preferred landing spot: the Lakers
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) February 6, 2023
Props to Joe Tsai.
But, he may have cost his team. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Lakers made a mega-offer for Irving.
Inside the arms race for Kyrie Irving among playoff contenders in Lakers, Suns, Mavericks and Clippers, and how Dallas won the battle to acquire the eight-time All-Star.
On @TheAthletic: https://t.co/z39UVMuMsb
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2023
The Lakers offered the Nets a package of Westbrook and two first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 for Irving in the last two days, sources with knowledge of the discussions said — to which the Nets informed the Lakers that in order to make an offer to get in the Irving sweepstakes they would require all of their young players such as Austin Reaves and Max Christie and pick swaps in addition to Westbrook and the two first-round picks.
That may not seem like a lot. But, those two Lakers first round picks could be extremely valuable, as LeBron will have almost certainly have retired and Anthony Davis can’t stay on the court.
Still, it’s funny that Kyrie Irving didn’t get his way.