BOSTON — With Kyrie Irving’s revenge tour becoming the focus of the NBA Finals, the Nets appear to have missed out, due to both their former player’s success and the team’s own failures since trading for him.
Irving only alluded to feeling “disrespected” by the Nets, but his teammate elaborated further in an interview with The Washington Post.
“It was time for an extension and the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement and business came into play and that’s how it went,” said Markieff Morris, who traded with Irving from Brooklyn to Dallas last year. “I think Kyrie averaged about 27 points. [points] That’s how it was then. I think I won 18 of 20 games, and then all of a sudden the business comes into play. That’s how it goes. When you’re as good as Kyrie is, I can’t stand that. Get me out of there.”
According to The Washington Post’s Brian Lewis, the Nets offered Irving a short-term, incentive-laden extension, citing his unreliability.
Irving has been involved in a number of controversies and absences, including refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine and promoting anti-Semitic films on Twitter.
Still, Irving was exceptional leading up to the 2023 trade deadline, leading the Nets to a strong showing with 18 wins in 20 games.
He was hoping it would lead to a payday.
However, Joe Tsai and Sean Marks remained open to negotiations, and Irving demanded a trade.
The trade swapped Irving and Morris for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks.
Irving then re-signed with the Mavericks for three years and $121 million with a player option.
He and Luka Doncic have developed into one of the NBA’s most potent offensive backcourts this season.
“[The Nets] I didn’t want to pay him. So what is he playing for? If you’re not going to pay him in a contract year on this good team, everyone else is getting paid. [Kevin Durant] Paid [with a max extension]”Kylie did everything she was supposed to do. … So it’s just going to the other team and now we’re in the finals,” Morris said.
In retrospect, the trade was a terrible one for the Nets, who finished 11th in the East last season and had just hired their fourth coach in nearly four years.
Dinwiddie is already gone and Finney-Smith is a role player who averaged 8.5 points and shot 42 percent from the field last season.
But the Nets also couldn’t get any consistency out of Irving.
Rest, injuries, suspensions and vaccination requirements caused the point guard to miss roughly half the games after signing as a free agent in 2019.
Vaccine mandates have forced Irving to miss most of the 2021-22 season and he has taken a significant pay cut.
Morris echoed Irving’s stance on vaccines, suggesting most people feel the same way.
“Everybody has their own beliefs. I’m angry that I got that shot,” Morris said. “I didn’t want to get that shot either. Who would want to get that? Nobody would want to get that.”
The highlight of Irving’s tenure was a run to the conference semifinals in 2021, when the Nets took advantage of home-court advantage to take a 2-0 lead over the Bucks.
Then, in Game 3, Irving sprained his ankle while playing Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Nets lost the series in heartbreak.
The Bucks won the title.
“If Giannis doesn’t step in [Irving]”If they hadn’t done that, they would have won,” said Morris, who played for the Lakers at the time, “and Milwaukee still wouldn’t have won a championship.”
“I think so. They were destined to lose. They know that. You can ask anybody on the team,” Morris added, noting that former Bucks point guard Jeff Teague said the same thing on a podcast.
Now, Irving is healthy and back in the Finals, this time in Dallas, looking to bounce back from a disappointing Game 1 loss at Boston.
“He’s in a place where he can thrive,” Morris said. “We’re all on the same page. There’s no hidden agenda. He’s in his 13th year. I can agree with that. I’m in my 13th year too, but I want to be in a place where people love me and it’s more than just a business. I want to finish my career in a place where I’m comfortable.”
