By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Kyrie Irving didn’t part ways with the Brooklyn Nets on the best of terms since he left the club after requesting to be traded almost out of the blue on February 3rd.
Irving, now a member of the Dallas Mavericks and teammate of Luka Doncic, mentioned that he didn’t want to be in Brooklyn because he didn’t get the sense that his game and effort were respected. Quite the contrary.
“I just want to be a place where I’m celebrated and not just tolerated,” Irving said in his first press conference as a Mavericks player. “There were times throughout this process when I was in Brooklyn when I felt very disrespected. I work extremely hard on what I do. No one ever talks about my work ethic though. Everyone’s talking about what I’m doing off the floor.”
“I just want to change that narrative, write my own story and just continue prepare in the gym. Now that I’m in Dallas, focus on what I can control,” Irving also mentioned.
When asked about what the Nets did to make him feel disrespected, Irving answered that he didn’t want to go into details about it. “I’m not the person to really speak on names and go to someone’s behind their back and leak stuff to the media. That’s never been me. I’ve been an audience member of people saying things about me that ultimately just fall off my shoulder.”
Irving, a eight-time All-Star and 2016 champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is now joining forces with Doncic to create one of the most formidable backcourt duos in the league.
“This is going to be my first time seeing one of those… bad Europeans who’ve come over dominate up close,” Irving mentioned. He added that Doncic is doing things that have never been seen by anyone other than Larry Bird. “He plays at his own pace, scores a bunch of points and is constantly in MVP conversation.”