Kyrie Irving made headlines during the 2020/21 NBA season, and even after the Brooklyn Nets were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, the All-Star point guard is making a lot of noise around the league.
The 29-year-old was reportedly feared inside the team’s locker room this season, as he had the power to decide what player stays or goes. This is a very bold claim to make, but Matt Sullivan had access to the team this season, collecting privileged info about the daily events within the organization.
In his new book ‘Can’t Knock The Hustle,’ Sullivan talks about Kyrie’s power on the roster. The author indicates that Irving could decide if a player was traded if they disagreed with the 2016 NBA champion (18:41).
“Kyrie was empowered enough to swap guys off the Nets’ roster for this season because they didn’t necessarily agree with his politics or his view of player empowerment when it came to his kind of bubble-boycott call”
“Garrett Temple told me straight up like players in leadership, if you go against what they want you to do, then they won’t want you back. And if that’s the case, I don’t want to be on this team.”
These are pretty serious accusations, but it’s not hard to believe knowing that Kyrie reportedly controlled the team more than they controlled him, per Sullivan.
Now rumors suggest the Nets might trade Ky this offseason given his behavior during the season. He missed several games and cited personal reasons for that, was spotted partying maskless, and more.
After his second season with the Nets, he earned a lot of criticism, which could mean the end of his relationship with the team. However, we’ll need to wait and see how this situation develops.
