Kyrie Irving expressed his intentions are to remain with the Nets on Monday night after Brooklyn’s season-ending loss to the Boston Celtics at Barclays Center.
“I don’t really plan on going anywhere,” Irving, who has a player option for the 2022-23 season, said after Boston’s 116-112 defeat. “And, you know, just looking forward to the summer and just building with our guys here.”
Irving, to no surprise however, didn’t stop there. And the more that Irving continued on his long-winded road, including a reference to how Brooklyn’s first-round exit will provide motivation, the Nets point guard offered an interesting glimpse into his (perhaps self-believed?) level of importance.
“When I say I’m here with Kev, I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside Joe (Tsai) and Sean (Marks),” Irving said referencing both Brooklyn’s owner (Tsai) and general manager (Marks).
Ah, yes. Irving is now a member of Brooklyn’s board of executives.
“Just our group of family members that we have in our locker room, in our organization,” Irving said. “It’s not just about me and Kev, I don’t want to make it just about that. We are cornerstones here, but a few other guys that are on contract. And I think we just got to make some moves this offseason, really talk about it, and really be intentional about what we’re building and have some fun with it.”
Irving continued on that diatribe later referencing how the media and “external world” create outside noise that he doesn’t feel the need to pay attention to and yada, yada, yada. You get the point.
Irving now has referred to himself as one of Brooklyn’s coaches due to the “collaborative effort” and an executive during his three seasons — well, 103 games — with the organization. It was the latest example of Irving living in his own reality.
