Kyrie Irving reportedly wants out of Brooklyn, and he wants it to happen fast.
It’s a very quick and drastic change of heart for the 30-year-old. It was reported just last week that Irving was seeking a contract extension with the Nets. Last summer, the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new deal before “Uncle Drew” chose to opt in to the last year of his current contract and stay with the organization.
One month before the 2022-2023 regular season began, Irving said he “gave up 4 years, 100-something million to be unvaccinated,” while discussing the summer contract negotiations. The eight-time All-Star missed a number of home games last season due to restrictions for unvaccinated people in New York City, though that changed in March 2022.
The point guard’s vaccination controversy is far from the only headache that he’s caused both the organization and Brooklyn fans alike.
In late October, Irving shared an Amazon link on social media for a film called “Heroes to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” a movie that contains a host of antisemitic tropes and falsehoods about Jewish people. The former No. 1 draft pick faced intense criticism following the post, and eventually, both the Nets and Irving donated $500,000 to anti-hate causes (which came after Irving’s father and stepmother reportedly met with the Anti-Defamation League).
After his much-scrutinized response to questions regarding whether he had any antisemitic beliefs, the former Rookie of the Year was suspended by the team until he completed a list of six “action items.” Irving returned to the court on Nov. 20 after missing eight games and has again been one of the elite talents in the game, averaging 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds along with a .486/.374/.883 shooting line through 40 contests.
With Kevin Durant missing the last 11 games due to a knee injury, Irving has been forced to do most of the heavy lifting on the team. Brooklyn has gone 4-7 since Durant went down, and it looks like his superstar sidekick is ready to move on.
