MY ACCOUNT
Kyrie Irving confirmed he will remain with the Brooklyn Nets after a disappointing first-round 4-0 sweep against the Boston Celtics.
Irving scored 20 points with five rebounds and five assists in the decisive 116-112 Game 4 loss on Monday.
The mercurial guard has a player option in his contract for the 2022-23 season, which means he can decide whether to stay for the $36million he has agreed to, or he could void the last year and enter negotiations for a long-term deal with the Nets, or any other team with cap space.
When asked in his post-game press conference, Irving said: “I don’t really plan on going anywhere.”
He later took it even further as he spoke about rebuilding the team through his “co-management relationship” with the Nets front office.
“I don’t really plan on going anywhere – this is added motivation for our franchise to be at the top of the league for the next few years,” he said.
“When I say I’m here with ‘Kev’ [Kevin Durant], I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside [owner] Joe [Tsai] and [general manager] Sean [Marks], and just our group of family members that we have in our locker room and our organisation.
“I think we’ve just got to make some moves this offseason – and really talk about, and really be intentional about, what we’re building.
“We’ll just have fun building it, having that creative process. It’s a co-management relationship, and you see that the players need to gel. You can’t have these little lulls of uncertainty… [we have to] be intentional about who’s in our locker room, and how we’re going to be leading.
“There’s no question about where I’m going, or how this is going to happen. I’m here with [Durant], but also I’m here to build a great team.
“Individually I’ve been recognised for my greatness, but at this point in my career I really just want to be part of a great team, and dominate that way, without focusing on any individual accolades or achievements. Just really build something special.”
When discussing how he felt about the outcome of the season, Irving said he would use it as fuel, but admitted there were points in the season that he felt he was letting down his teammates.
“Just disappointment, sadness. But more importantly, on the positive side, it’s motivation,” he said. “It’s burning in my heart right now.
“I know so many people wanted to see us fail at this juncture… and have so much to say at this point, so I’m just using that as fuel for the summer.
“I think it was just really heavy emotionally this season. We all felt it.
“I felt like I was letting the team down at a point where I wasn’t able to play. We were trying to exercise every option for me to play, but I never wanted it to just be about me. I think it became a distraction at times.”
Irving was unavailable for home games until late March due to his refusal to accept a COVID-19 vaccination.
He added: “We just had some drastic changes. We lost a franchise player – and we got a franchise player back – but we didn’t get a chance to see him on the floor.”
Irving discussed issues such as allowing outside noise to seep into the locker room and repeated calls for more mental toughness, but he made sure to support embattled All-Star Ben Simmons. Simmons did not make his Nets debut in Game 4, as had been initially anticipated, as he battles to overcome a back problem.
“There was no pressure for [Simmons] to step on the floor with us, either,” Irving said. “Ben’s good, we have his back, and he’s going to be good for next year.
“But now we just turn the page, and look forward to what we’re building as a franchise, and really get tougher.
“This is a league that’s getting younger, it’s getting more athletic, it’s getting taller, and more competitive. These young guys are hungry out here. You see it, I could feel it, so it’s added motivation when you get swept like this.
“Now we just look to the future as a team and what we can accomplish for the next few years – and I get excited about that.”
