The relationship between star guard Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets hasn’t just spiraled out of control, it’s a fiery crash with onlookers stopping to get a first-hand view.
Most recently, Irving’s decision to share an antisemitic film on social media has created a firestorm that we has not seen surround the guard during his drama-filled tenure with Brooklyn. In fact, it led to Nets owner Joe Tsai calling him out in a big way.
“I’m disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation. I want to sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity, or religion.”
Joe Tsai response to Kyrie Irving tweet
With the Nets sitting at 2-6 on the season and following the firing of head coach Steve Nash, things are going downhill fast.
Could that lead to Brooklyn once again engaging the trade talks for Irving after a summer filled with rumors? If this one report from ESPN’s Zach Lowe is any indication, the team might as well avoid even trying.
“I talked to a lot of people around the league over the weekend, and the sense I get right now is he’s radioactive. Even if you drop the price to nothing, the baggage is just too much. And you want to talk about how the Lakers are the most desperate team in the league.
All right, the Lakers also play in a gigantic cosmopolitan city. All of the residents are following this story. I just don’t know what else they’re supposed to do except try to salvage and you’re telling me it’s unsalvageable.”
Report on Kyrie Irving’s trade value
There’s so many moving parts here. Irving, 30, is in the final season of his current four-year, $136.49 million contract. Even if a team like the Los Angeles Lakers has interest like they did during the summer, the baggage Irving would bring to the table couldn’t be seen as a net positive given the Lakers’ own drama.
No other team stands out as a potential landing spot for the enigmatic seven-time All-Star, either.
Related: Brooklyn Nets can’t stop at firing Steve Nash, a Kyrie Irving trade needs to be next
The Kyrie Irving mess is self-inflicted
We can talk about his unavailability during the 2021-22 season due to the star guard’s unwillingess to get the COVID-19 vaccination. We can talk about his inability to communicate with the media. We can even discuss Irving’s engimatic personality.
But right now, it comes down to the post he shared on social media that many see as Irving supporting antisemitism. He added to the growing criticism recently, too.
“Did I do anything illegal? Did I hurt anybody, did I harm anybody? Am I going out and saying that I hate one specific group of people. It’s on Amazon, a public platform. Whether you want to go watch it or not is up to you. There’s things being posted every day. I’m no different than the next human being, so don’t treat me any different.”
Kyrie Irving during press conference following Saturday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers
As for what’s happening right now, both Irving and the Nets announced on Wednesday that they are donating $500,000 to the Anti-Defamation League “toward causes and organizations hat work to eradicate hate and intolerance in our communities.”
Whether this moves the needle remains to be seen. It must be noted that Irving’s most-recent comments did not include an apology for sharing the aforementioned video on social.
On the court, these Nets have lost six of their first eight games. Ben Simmons is once again sidelined to injury after some major struggles on the part of the former All-Star.
Kevin Durant is doing his thing. But he can’t be happy about the way things are going after initially requesting to be dealt earlier in the summer.
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Meanwhile, Brooklyn used Steve Nash as a fall guy when general manager Sean Marks was responsible for constructing this roster.
Could it lead the Nets simply cutting ties with Kyrie Irving by waiving him? At this point, we wouldn’t put it past the organization. And in reality, Irving has put himself in this situation. He has no one else to blame. It simply might be too late to save face.