New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivered a parting shot toward Kyrie Irving after it was learned on Sunday that the Brooklyn Nets are trading Irving to the Dallas Mavericks.
As mentioned by Isabel Keane of the New York Post, Pat Kiernan of the NY1 television network asked Adams during an interview on Monday how he would’ve responded to Irving’s reported trade request made ahead of this past weekend.
“I will find the team that beats us the most and send him to that team because then we’ll start beating that team,” Adams answered. He wasn’t done there.
“No matter how much talent you have, your ability to interact with your colleagues is more important,” Adams added about Irving. “One player can bring down the synergy of the team — and so I would send him to the team that beats us the most so we can start winning better. “
Irving joined the Nets as a free agent in the summer of 2019 and failed to guide the club to a single NBA Finals appearance throughout his tenure with the organization.
The eight-time All-Star selection played in just 29 regular-season games for Brooklyn in 2021-22 over his decision to remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 coupled with New York’s vaccine mandate regarding players participating in contests held at Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden.
This past September, Irving took to Twitter to blast Adams after the mayor announced the end of the city’s private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The one-time NBA champion wrote that “this enforced Vaccine/Pandemic is one the biggest violations of HUMAN RIGHTS in history.”
More recently, Irving missed a total of eight games this past fall while serving a suspension for sharing a link to a movie and book that contain antisemitic tropes and for initially refusing to apologize or confirm he had no antisemitic beliefs.
The Nets-Mavericks trade wasn’t official as of early Monday afternoon, and Irving remained listed on Brooklyn’s roster at that time. According to ESPN, Irving could make his Dallas debut Wednesday at the Los Angeles Clippers.
