Following a messy 2021-22 NBA season, Kyrie Irving is not going through the best of times in Brooklyn. His reluctance to get the Covid-19 vaccine cost him several months on the sidelines, something that affected the Nets.
By the time he returned to the floor, it wastoo late. Steve Nashās team had to go through the play-in tournament only to be swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. Now, Irvingās future seems unclear.
But things were different three years ago, when he left Boston to join the Nets. By then, Irving had a recent success at the Cavaliers with LeBron James, and it seems that he took a page out of his book at the time of signing for Brooklyn.
Rumor: Kyrie Irving demanded Netsto give him similar power LeBron James hadon his teams
LeBron James is believed to have a lot of influence in every team he plays for, often being blamed when things donāt go as planned, like the 2021-22 Lakers. According to Steve Bulpett of Heavy,Irving let the Nets know he wanted to have that kind of power as well:
āWhen Kyrie signed as a free agent, he basically said, āIāll come and Iāll bring Kevin Durant.āAnd in return, the Nets agreed that he could have a say in the roster decisions. Itās not uncommon at all for general managers to talk to their top players about possible trades and free agents.
āThatās just smart. Youāre paying your guy big money, and you want him to be on board. Plus, your guy might have another view of a situation or a player that you havenāt considered. But with Kyrie, they talked this out beforehand. He wanted a situation as LeBron hasāor like he thinks LeBron has.ā
Irvingās request could have made sense back then, especially if he was bringing in someone like KD. But now he canāt pretend to have that kind of weight anymore. In fact, he has to make things up after a forgettable year.
