Nick Wright details Kyrie Irving's threat of retirement if traded by the Brooklyn Nets
Kyrie Irving is anything but a boring personality.
The Brooklyn Nets' superstar point guard is one of the NBA's best at his position — as his seven All-Star berths can attest to — and the 29-year-old never shies away from voicing his opinions.
One of those opinions came to light after Nick Wright of "First Things First" reported Wednesday that if faced with the prospect of being traded away from the Nets, Irving's representation said the player would instead retire.
Wright didn't suggest Irving was planning to or even hinting at retiring, but rather that the superstar point guard's agents put it out there that he would walk away if shipped from the Big Apple.
Hours later Wednesday, Irving responded to Wright's report on Twitter with a GIF and called the pundit a "puppet."
Despite Irving's dig, Wright reaffirmed his report on Thursday's episode of "First Things First" and detailed exactly what he was hearing.
"The fact of the matter is this: There were a handful of teams that contacted the Nets to take the temperature on whether or not any of the Big 3, particularly Kyrie Irving, were available," Wright said. "… Since they acquired [James] Harden and because the Nets have a surplus of scoring and a surplus of ballhandling, there's thought Kyrie might be available. … [Those inquiring teams] were led to believe it’d be irresponsible [for the Nets] not to listen.
"But now there is nothing to listen to because — and this I know for an utter certainty, no matter what GIFs Kyrie sends to me on Twitter — Kyrie's people told anyone that would listen: ‘Trade for him at your own peril. If he were ever to be traded from Brooklyn, he would simply retire,’" Wright said.
Nick Wright isn't backing down from Kyrie Irving after reporting he'd rather retire than be traded I FIRST THINGS FIRST
Wright also reiterated that he is not reporting that Irving is contemplating retirement. The news, as Wright said, is Kyrie's agents telling teams that he would walk away if traded — essentially eliminating his trade market.
Whether the Nets would entertain a trade is an entirely different discussion.
But as Chris Broussard pointed out: Even though Irving is an undeniable talent, he isn't among the "untouchable" talents in the NBA.
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Broussard also weighed in on Wright's report.
"I did speak with someone close to him last night … and they told me they'd highly doubt that he would retire," Broussard said.
"However, if, to Nick's point: If the Nets are talking about trading him, it's certainly not beyond some representatives to say, ‘Hey, he will stop playing basketball if you move him’ because Kyrie Irving loves being home in New Jersey, and I'm sure he doesn't want to leave," Broussard said.
As it stands, all signs point toward Kyrie not only remaining in Brooklyn this season but also inking an extension.
One thing is for certain, though. There's never a dull moment when it comes to checking in on Irving.
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