Kyrie Irving continues to be the recipient of Stephen A. Smith's wrath as the Brooklyn Nets now face a three-game deficit against the Boston Celtics.
Irving and the Nets are on the brink of elimination, one loss away from starting their offseason, with the Brooklyn guard staring down a $36 million player option for the 2022-23 campaign. All those factors came together Sunday as Smith spoke on ESPN and pinpointed why he would not sign Irving, 30, to a long-term contract.
"The gall of that man to utter those words out of his mouth about how 'We haven't played together.' The nerve. The disgust. I mean, you got to be kidding me," Smith said. "Let me be very, very clear. I need an (isolation) camera on me right now because I want to say this to the United States of America.
"Kyrie Irving is box office. This brother deserves $50 million a year. I would never give him a long-term contract again," Smith continued. "He cannot be trusted. You pay him one year at a time. I don't care how much money he gets, but you give it to him one year at a time. You know why? Because you got to make sure this man shows up to work. This man has played more than 11 seasons in this NBA. He has played over 60 games four times in this 82-game season. He is one of the absolute professionals at missing work. I'm not giving him a long-term deal, you got to be crazy."
Smith doubled down on his Irving slander Monday during ESPN's "First Take."
"When Russia bombed Ukraine, I thought Kyrie Irving wasn't going to show up for work," Smith said.
Irving has been somewhat of a non-factor during each of Brooklyn's previous two playoff losses to the Celtics. The seven-time NBA All-Star had 10 points in a Game 2 defeat and followed that up with 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting from the field in Game 3.
Irving's Nets will try to fend off elimination Monday night at Barclays Center with tip set for 7 p.m. ET.
