Kyrie Irving went on quite a rant on Twitch after the Mavericks’ 113-106 loss to the Pelicans on Wednesday.
Irving railed against people who think they know him just because they watch him play basketball.
“You see me for three hours and you think you know who I am,” he said. “You see a few posts: ‘Oh Ky is woke, Ky got it, oh, Ky is, oh my goodness. He just doesn’t fit into the mold of all the people. He’s different, he’s crazy, he’s arrogant, he’s this, he’s that.’ All from seeing me for three hours. You get all that.
“‘What’s Ky gonna do this summer? Does Ky like Dallas? What happened in Brooklyn? What happened in Boston? What happened in Cleveland? Why did you leave LeBron [James]? Why did you leave Jayson [Tatum]? Why did you leave KD [Kevin Durant]? Why did you leave all these people?’
“It's 15 guys on the team and I'm the one cancer in the room. That's what it's portrayed as…these older, bitter gentlemen and women keep my name in their mouths every day”
– Kyrie Irving
(h/t @NBA_NewYork ) pic.twitter.com/wFakckwEp1
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) March 9, 2023
“For three hours — get to ask all these legitimate questions as if 21 hours every day wasn’t happening after that. Me, you think that I’m the cancer in the locker room as if basketball is an individual sport that one person is supposed to take blame for. It’s 15 guys on the team, and I’m the one cancer in the room. That’s what it’s portrayed as. That’s what you guys get. That’s what they have fun doing. That’s why these older, bitter gentlemen and women keep my name in their mouths every day.”
Irving also said sports betting was ruining the “purity” of the game.
“Gambling and sports betting has completely taken the purity away and the fun away from the game at times,” he said. “I’m gonna just be honest with y’all. Work is work, but the support around it can be distracting. “There’s a difference between being a diehard fan and supporting your team and loving your team versus somebody that’s betting on a parlay or somebody that wants to hit.”
Irving concluded his rant by questioning how he is free if other’s aren’t.
“How am I free if I know kids are still working in the cobalt mines in the Congo?” he said.
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