New York City Mayor Eric Adams sent Kyrie Irving a parting shot after the Brooklyn Nets star was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
During an appearance on NY1 on Monday, Adams was asked how he’d handle an employee who behaved like Irving.
“If City Hall was a professional sports team, and you had an employee who gave you as much drama as Kyrie Irving is giving to the Brooklyn Nets… what would you do if that employee said, ‘Could you trade me’ — would you do the trade,” Adams was asked.
“I will find the team that beats us the most and then send him to that team because we then we’d start beating that team,” Adams said, adding, “It’s about synergy in energy. No matter how much talent you have, your ability to interact with your colleagues is more important. One player can bring down the synergy of the team.”
![Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic face off in Nets and Mavs game](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 203 115"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Sunday, Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie, Doran Finney-Smith, a first-round pick, as well as multiple second-round picks.
Kyrie’s trade to Dallas ended the point guard’s tumultuous tenure in Brooklyn. During the 2020-21 season, Kyrie’s refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine barred him from playing Nets home games for a period of time. Last year, Kyrie was criticized after he posted a link to a documentary that was widely seen as containing antisemitic tropes. For doing so, the NBA handed Irving a suspension without pay.