Fox Sports’ Nick Wright reported Wednesday that Kyrie Irving’s representation has “made it known” he would retire from the NBA if the Brooklyn Nets were to deal him. Irving kept his response short.
Irving is entering the third year of his four-year deal with Brooklyn. He can opt out of the final year. Nets general manager Sean Marks said in August that he was “very confident” about finalizing extensions for Kyrie and James Harden by training camp after inking Kevin Durant to a new four-year deal worth a reported $198 million.
Irving also cleared up any confusion surrounding a previous tweet which could’ve been interpreted as anti-masker sentiment in the midst of a surging pandemic triggered by the highly transmissible delta variant.
“My mask is off. Now take yours off. No fear,” the tweet read.
Irving later elaborated on what his “mask off” tweet was actually about, and confirmed that his message had nothing to do with COVID-19 or face covering requirements.
Read his explanation below.
