National Basketball Association

Kyrie Irving wants to help 'manage' Brooklyn's next chapter

Updated Apr. 26, 2022 7:25 p.m. ET

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The Brooklyn Nets have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs.

In a shocking turn of events, Brooklyn's hometown team has gone from one of the league's leading title favorites to the first to pack its vacation bags after a 4-0 series sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics.

It's an ugly stain on the record of a squad that had so many expectations ahead of the season, and though everyone in the organization will have to answer for the collapse, no two men will shoulder more responsibility than Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. 

"We didn't play as well as a team as we wanted to," Irving said.

"It's just heavy, emotionally," he continued. "Just disappointment, sadness. But more importantly on the positive side, motivation. It's burning on my heart right now. I know so many people wanted to see us fail at this juncture, and have so much to say at this point, so I'm just using that as fuel for the summer and getting a good start as a team starting in October. It was a heavy lift for us throughout the entire season. I was out, KD was out, James [Harden] gets traded. It's just a culmination of things."

As far as his future was concerned, Irving emphasized that he was eager to be back in Brooklyn and get the ball rolling for next season.

"I don't plan on going anywhere," he said. "This is added motivation for our franchise to be at the top of the league the next few years. When I say I'm here with Kev, I think that really entails us managing this franchise together alongside [owner] Joe [Tsai] and [general manager] Sean [Marks], and our group of family members that we have in our organization. I think we need to make some moves this offseason, and really be intentional about what we're building and just really worry about us."

Irving was adamant that he wasn't going to be a prisoner of the past and remained poised for a positive future as he closed out his media availability.

But for Nick Wright, Irving's optimism was concerning.

"I don't want him to give himself a promotion to co-general manager," Wright said Tuesday on ""First Things First."

"Kyrie Irving started his Nets tenure assigning himself assistant head coach, and after an all-time flame-out of a season, terrible postseason, so much commotion, he surveyed the landscape and was like, ‘I think I deserve a raise and a promotion. I'm going to get more money, more years, and a better title.' He actually seems sincere, and I want to meet him halfway, but he's so delusional about his complicity in this, and where he is in the basketball universe. 

Kyrie 'promotes' himself to a managerial role for Nets I FIRST THINGS FIRST

Despite a disappointing end to a rocky season, Kyrie Irving says he's sticking with the Brooklyn Nets... but not just as a player.

Chris Broussard felt like Irving was making excuses for his own actions.

"I had hoped that this series would humble both he and Durant. They think that they see the game in some higher, secret, esoteric way that nobody understands. That quote from Kyrie [about management] is indefensible. This is what's on their résumé: Kevin Durant chose Steve Nash as coach, left Stephen Curry and Golden State, and then Kyrie's résumé has leaving LeBron James and leaving the Celtics, who are better without him. 

"Teams are leery of Irving because of his unreliability. I don't think any [other] team would give him a long-term contract. He doesn't have much leverage."

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Kyrie Irving

Brooklyn Nets

National Basketball Association

Kevin Durant

Boston Celtics

NBA - Boston Celtics vs. Brooklyn Nets - 04/25/2022

Chris Broussard

Nick Wright

First Things First