Still fresh off their defeat in the 2022 playoffs, the Brooklyn Nets stand on the verge of implosion. Ben Simmons has been M.I.A., Kevin Durant’s loyalty is being pushed, and Kyrie Irving is reportedly reaching for the West coast.
Regarding the Irving situation specifically, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst dropped the latest update minutes ago. Apparently, there’s a big standoff between Irving and the Nets’ front office:
“This is a Grade A stare down, between the Nets and Kyrie Irving. And where they’ve moved it is, instead of the discussion being about the extension, the discussion is now about this option. With Woj’s reporting and everything being sent around the league is that the Brooklyn Nets are willing to risk losing Kevin Durant if it means going through what they went through last year with Kyrie Irving.”
"This is a Grade A stare down, between the Nets and Kyrie Irving."
—@WindhorstESPN pic.twitter.com/jWLw7pS1Gv
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 27, 2022
Needless to say, things are tense in the Big Apple right now. On Brooklyn’s side, they just want to avoid a repeat of the 2021-22 campaign, even if it means throwing it all away and starting over. Packaging Kyrie Irving in a sign-and-trade or some other deal could be enough to set them up for the future.
Meanwhile, Kyrie is out to protect himself, his money, his family, and (of course) his legacy. As his issues in Brooklyn get exposed, Irving is doing his best to control the damage and change the narrative. We saw that first-hand at the BET awards show this week:
Irving was asked on the red carpet about whether he still wishes to be with the Brooklyn Nets. He laughed and dodged the question, taking it lightly, but after there was some speculation about what his reaction meant, Irving elaborated on it in Instagram comments saying he would address his side of things at the right time.
“Welcome to the ‘New Media’. When I smile like that, it means there’s more to the story. I’ll have my time to address things.”
At this stage of his career, everybody knows what Kyrie Irving can do on the court. He is one of the best in the business and can drastically improve the title odds of any team in the league.
But for the past 5 years, Kyrie has come with so much baggage that it has left his teams in ruin. Unfortunately, the Nets may be next up on the chopping block.
