Kyrie Irving on leaving Brooklyn: 'It was the best decision of my career to ask for a trade'
Hopefully now Kyrie Irving has peace of mind because he didn't seem to find that in Brooklyn.
Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get the COVID vaccine, combined with New York City's vaccine mandate at the time, undermined the Brooklyn Nets’ championship dreams when they built a superteam of Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden.
Harden was the first to ask for a trade (in part because of his frustrations with Irving), but Irving was not far behind him. Friday night Irving, now a Dallas Maverick, faces the Nets for the first time since he left. Irving has no regrets about his decision, as he told Brian Lewis and Dan Martin of the New York Post.
"But for me, it was the best decision of my career to ask for a trade," Irving said. "I knew I needed peace of mind.”
Irving also said issues between himself and the Nets were overblown.
"I was never on bad terms with the organization," Irving said after the Mavericks practiced Thursday. "I just think there was a lot of chaos and noise, as usual, from the media. I'm not going to blame you guys or anything, but nobody really knew what was going on behind the scenes."
Irving's issues with the Nets — and ability to be on the court for them — went beyond COVID. Irving missed time in the middle of the 2020-21season for "personal reasons" following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Last season, Irving was suspended by the team for promoting an anti-Semitic movie on social media. In the wake of all that, the Nets were not willing to go the max four years on a contract extension with Irving, and in the end it was the money that ultimately led to the breakup.
By the end, both sides were ready to part ways. However, the Nets knew that both Irving and Harden leaving meant Kevin Durant would be next and they would be back to rebuilding. That's what happened.
Since coming to Dallas, Irving has stayed out of the spotlight for his personal life, at least so far. He is trying to learn how to win playing next to Luka Doncic. Meanwhile, the Nets are starting a rebuild with an interesting roster, but one that is far from complete — and not close to what it will look like in a couple of years.
It will be interesting Friday night to see how Brooklyn fans greet Irving on his return. Irving feels he did what is best for himself, but both he and Brooklyn are now much further from a ring than they were together a couple of years ago. The peace of mind must be worth it.
