The Kyrie Irving saga during the 2021-22 season was a distraction to the Brooklyn Nets, by Irving’s own admission following a first-round sweep in the playoffs, but Irving is firing back at the media for what he feels is unfair treatment.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Irving called out the media “puppet masters” who “make their money by degrading BLACK/African/Indigenous community heroes.”
The Twitter rant seemed to be a direct response to shows such as ESPN’s First Take, which has spent plenty of time covering the Nets’ playoff collapse this month.
On Friday, Stephen A. Smith praised Irving as “arguably the most spectacular talent in the NBA,” but ripped the Nets star for trying to create a narrative that he’s being mistreated by the media.
“We are witnessing one of the most delusional athletes in American history. He’s lost, because he’s so big on telling everbody else they’re lost.
Kyrie is also slick, because he’s trying to get away with something I’m not going to allow him to get away with.
… What it comes down to and what everybody’s focusing on: You don’t want to show up to work. You want to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, how you want to do it, while you’ve got your hand out for somebody else’s money.”
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