Kyrie Irving is under a whole lot of pressure in Brooklyn this season, as is basically everyone else who plays for the Nets. The team is getting Irving back from an injury that limited him to just 20 games last season, while Kevin Durant is slated to make his debut after suffering a torn achilles during his final game as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
Brooklyn went 35-37 last season and made the playoffs, and now, expectations have been raised in year one of the Steve Nash era. Things got underway this week as players began meeting with the media, although there was an exception to that: Irving. In a statement released to members of the media, Irving explained that he wanted to make sure his message was “conveyed properly,” and expressed his commitment to making sure the Nets can “win championships” with him at the helm.
Kyrie Irving issued a statement that says, in part: “My goal this season is to let my work on and off the court speak for itself.”
He said he is issuing this statement instead of speaking with reporters. pic.twitter.com/ninUzAnhzC
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) December 4, 2020
It’s not exactly controversial to say that Irving and the media don’t always have the best relationship, and as a result, it appears he decided to take an approach with them here that reduces the amount of gray area through which his message can be misinterpreted. To defend other folks in the media, there have been plenty of times when Irving has said things that are kind of vague and open to interpretation, and as long as that’s the case, it’s going to be very easy for things to be printed that do not line up with what he means.
That, of course, also explains why he opted to take this approach with this press release. The very bottom line seems to imply that this is going to be his course of action all season long, but it’s unclear if that, indeed, is what he plans on doing.