Kyrie Irving’s tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, much as it has in all of his other stops, ended in disaster this week.
And as one might expect, Irving came out of the mess deflecting blame and playing the victim.
The Nets on Sunday traded Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, shipping him out less than 48 hours after he made the request. The 30-year-old reportedly is “ecstatic” about the news, though the story of his excitement following a trade has been told before.
While Irving eventually shared praise of his new situation, the eight-time All-Star kicked off his introduction to Dallas by dumping all over his previous situation.
“I just know I want to be places where I’m celebrated,” Irving said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Not just tolerated, or dealt with in a way that doesn’t make me feel respected. There were times throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn that I felt very disrespected.
“My talent — I work extremely hard at what I do and no one talks about my work ethic,” Irving said. “Everybody talks about what I’m doing off the floor. I just wanted to change that narrative and write my own story.”
Irving’s talent has never been questioned, but his insistence on playing the blame game every time he goes through a break up with his previous franchise can best be described as obnoxious. The Nets stuck with him through his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and his failure to apologize for promoting an anti-Semitic film, all while he played in just 143 of a possible 298 games.
Now, he’s become Luka Doncic and the Mavericks’ problem to deal with. Surely things will work out better this time around.
