It was a hectic summer for the Brooklyn Nets, headlined by Kevin Durant’s trade request. While Durant’s trade request was the story of the offseason, his teammate Kyrie Irving also had a drama-filled summer.
Eventually opting into the last year of his deal in Brooklyn, Irving was reportedly attempting to join the Los Angeles Lakers. These rumors were recently reiterated by Stephen A. Smith, who said Irving wants to join Los Angeles next year. Speaking with ESPN’s Nick Friedell, Irving was asked about his future.
“Well, I’m staying patient and letting those things play out, honestly,” Irving told Friedell when asked about his looming free agency. “Because the best thing I can do right now is just build sustainable relationships and be there for people that go on the court and off the court. And that’s going to be a unique task this year. Eliminating those distractions of thinking about things that I know are either in the future or they are not, or hoping — I don’t want to be in that phase. I just want to be present, live every day as God has given it to me and legitimately just have fun with this profession. It’s a heck of a business, ain’t it?”
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Irving has been outspoken about the long-term contract extension he could have gotten had his season gone differently last year, but according to him, he is now focused on the present. Trusting that contract matters will get taken care of as long as he eliminates distractions, Irving is confident this can be a big year for him.
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