Ever since Kyrie Irving came into the league, he’s been known for two things: his elite skills on the court and his out-of-pocket takes off the court. Now that the Dallas Mavericks point guard is going through rehab, he has a lot of time on his hands to talk about the things that matter to him.
Last month, Irving turned heads by saying that multi-billionaire Bill Gates owns a majority of the land and water in the USA, a statement that was quickly debunked by the internet.
But this time, he’s just talking about his relationship to farming, and how he perceives his future once he hangs up his boots.
“I’m building towards becoming one of the biggest farmers ever. Like, I’m just going to put it out there. I wanna be able to supply food and groceries to the world in the best I can and create small, holistic wellness villages where people can retire… women can give birth safely. Families can grow and build. I’m more into agriculture than I am into other things, too.” Irving said on a recent Twitch stream.
This statement from the former Cavaliers point guard was received much better than his previous takes on social and scientific issues, like the time when he questioned the shape of the Earth.
NBA Veterans React To Kyrie Irving’s Take On Farming
Irving has always been vocal about his efforts to make the world a better place, the way he deems fit. Road Trippin podcast host Allie Clifton revealed that in 2017, even after he had just won a championship, he talked about creating a self-sustaining community that would live off a giant piece of farmland.
Former NBA players Kendrick Perkins and Channing Frye gave a thumbs-up to Irving for speaking his truth and showing the younger generation that there’s more to being a basketball player than big cars, big money, and big houses.
“He has been doing these streams on Twitch and expressing his feelings in a way that comes from maturity, age, the ups and downs of life, having more kids, getting married, doing all these things where now he’s saying it like not like ‘Oh I’m doing this because I’m better than you guys or I have the money to do this, I’m doing this because it makes me happy.’ Like it’s more fulfilling, it’s the other half of the glass.” Frye said during an episode of the Road Trippin’ podcast.
According to Frye, young people love Irving, and when he says that farming is cool, it could potentially encourage a younger generation to be interested in this fundamental human activity that has been sidelined for decades.
Perkins also offered his advisory services to Irving, saying he can teach the Mavericks’ PG a thing or two about farm life. But Perkins also highlighted how well the Mavs management has handled Irving.
“You know who else I applaud? The Dallas Mavericks. The reason being that relationships matter… One could argue, and this is no knock on Cleveland, this is not a knock on Boston or Brooklyn, one could say that this is the happiest Kyrie Irving has ever been in his career. Dallas is smart because if you want the best version of Kyrie Irving on the floor, allow Kyrie Irving to be who he is off the floor.” Perkins said on the Road Trippin podcast.
Irving is currently rehabbing from a torn ACL that he suffered in May. This injury put him out of the playoffs, and there were serious doubts over his return for the entire next season. But the 9x All-Star revealed that he’s been making incremental progress on the road to recovery, and he might be back sooner than it was previously believed.
