Actually not that surprising given his track record the last few years. It was hard to know if he was just trolling to prove how gullible the media is, but it seems he really does believe the Earth is flat amongst other curious beliefs.

Irving and Durant were always a package deal so the Nets made a deal with the devil by having to sign Irving to get Durant.

This statement came out after the Nets brass has a private meeting with Durant and Harden about the situation. This is likely the beginning of the process of trying to trade Irving. Even when he relents and agrees to take the vaccine he's done enough damage by constantly putting himself above the team that they need to get rid of him.

Out of everyone in the league I think he is gonna be the most reluctant to get the jab. Every year he seems to be turning into more of a basket case. The last few years hes been more of a hindrance than anything else.

He's a brilliant enough player that he’ll probably be able to push it the most before he (or his bank account) breaks. Other players like Andrew Wiggins, who was in a similar situation given San Francisco have a similar mandate to NYC, finally relented when he realised his position was untenable. It would be pretty unprecedented if Kyrie has managed to push himself out of league, but given his comments, I don’t know how concerned he is if that ultimately is the case. It’s not as if throwing tantrums about it.

American-Aussies seem to be letting the side down a bit, eh! Not the ones who choose and chose to be Boomers, mind you. Just the ones who didn't and don't!

Oh, why are some of the best talents the least likable?

I have some sympathy for him - take away the basketball and he'd be that guy at the pub with dreamy ideas who bounces between jobs then disappears into vanlife (I'm well aware that I'm saying this as a person who talks about ideas at the pub, hasn't had a formal job in 20 years and owns a bus). Hard to marry/gel what would be eating away at his mind with the expectations of an elite athlete and with salary that goes with it. Many would just say "Do the job, earn the money, go be Boat Klay in the off-season like a normal person" but either his resistance to the mindworms is lower or his misconceptions are stronger. Glad I'm not paying his salary though.

Less about craziness about more about priorities perhaps.

There's a regular joke on r/NBA about the impact of the reporter who asked Kyrie about LeBron being a father figure. Set many things in motion with one mild question. Similar with the Simmons/Embiid stuff. Surprised more teams don't engage in mild psychological warfare against opponents. "He's wasted off the bench", "They call him Robin but he should be Batman", etc. But ramped up.

Like the poster one-up, I agree at least he's not ranting, feels there are bigger things than basketball and so on. He could mutually break contract and go start a mindfulness retreat or whatever speaks to him.

From reports I heard he has said if he gets traded he will retire (a ploy to prevent teams from wanting him?). If I was the Nets I would have done the Simmons for Kyrie trade... they dont need scoring when they already have Harden and Durant and Simmons would give them a huge defensive upgrade.

Craig, on that:

The Sixers have no interest in trading for Kyrie Irving at the moment, per @sam_amick . An Irving for Ben Simmons trade is seen by some as an easy solution to both teams' problems.

A Simmons for Kyrie exchange is interesting on paper, but if you're the 76ers, do you want the potential baggage Irving brings if he showed up? I don’t think the 76ers are at that point yet. I’d want to at least players who are wanting to be there (which is also why I’d end up getting $0.15 on the dollar). I’d love to see Simmons on court at effectively centre surrounded by Durant, Harden, Harris, and Patty.

Isaac, to be honest I dont believe a lot that comes out of the Sixers camp regarding Simmons as they are purely trying to do/say what they can to get him on the court and up his trade value.

If I am the Sixers do I want Kyrie? I suppose out of all deals thrown around this would be the best to date in 'star power' coming the Sixers way, but you are right do you really want the drama that comes with Kyrie.

I believe if a player officially retires, he's contract is wiped from the cap, but players don’t tend to retire until the end of a contract. Plenty of 'effectively retired’ players have continued to exist as contracts (against the cap) long after they’ve finished playing. The only exception is medical retirements I believe.

In saying that, Kyrie would be nearing the end of his contract anyway if memory serves, but I imagine Brooklyn would want someone tangible back rather than a John Wall, "get out of long term money" type of trade.

Yes, Kyrie has $35.1m this season and then $36.6m next season.

The Nets have Harden for $44m and $47m, Durant for five years, Harris for three and not much more beyond this year besides Thomas and Sharpe.

More opportunities for FIBA Patty!

Crazy thing is, even without Kyrie, Brooklyn probably wins the East.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren’t there rumours going around last year in regards to the events proceeding the George Floyd incident that Kyrie was effected pretty significantly and was even considering retiring even back then? I also recall while players didn’t want to go to the bubble for family reasons, concerns about the practicality of the bubble etc, there were a contingent of players who didn’t want to go as not only in protest of systemic racism but to also try and spend time helping the respective communities they play for, have played for and are from, and if memory serves me correct Kyrie was the main voice of the not going to protest and help communities out. Then when the Wisconsin incident occurred and the Bucks protest lead to the big meeting with all the players in the bubble, many players felt and even admitted that Kyrie was right all along about what they should’ve done.

My point being that there were rumours last year about him retiring due to how effected he was from the George Floyd incident and the events following it, and combined with the previous year with Boston being a shit show, and how 2 years before that his last Cavs year by all indications was a shit show in that he wanted out and had little to do with the team, is that there’s been a build up of shit surrounding him to the point where he considered calling it quits a year ago.

Throw in his general weirdness it wouldn’t surprise me if he did hang the boots up.

I can’t remember who said this but there’s a quote and it’s something like "Kyrie loves basketball but doesn’t love being an nba player in regards to the constant media attention, and combine that with his outlook on life, it wouldn’t be surprising if he retired at an early age."

Kyrie may not like being an NBA player, but he accepted the salary that comes with all those expectations.

Like those others of his ilk, he uses it for pushing his own agenda (which are not necessarily bad agendas IMHO) but goes outside of the agreed contract that he has signed in order to do so.

Good to see a couple of teams finally not back down to this type of behavior and rather now allow players to decide if they want to meet their contractual obligations or risk missing those paychecks which give them the opportunity other don't get.

I don't think anyone really has an issue if Kyrie chose to retire, for whatever reason, if he is content with that and feels in a better headspace than more power to him.

Reminds me of Bison Dele:

Dele suddenly retired from the NBA before the start of the 1999-2000 season at age 30, when he was still in the prime of his career. He had been the Pistons' highest-paid player, but had strained relationships with the organization and decided to walk away from the remaining five years and US$36.45 million on his contract rather than be traded. It has also been theorized he had never been especially passionate about playing basketball and felt he had earned enough money to allow him to walk away from the pro game and lifestyle.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/oct/13/jonathan-isaac-vaccine-covid-nba-orlando-magic-basketball-fox-news

An open letter from Etan Thomas to Isaac about his vaccine hesitancy also touches on Kyrie.

" It is revealing that it took less than 75 years for the Nuremberg Code to be cast aside and people to be coerced into a medical trial."

I clearly need to add "people quoting irrelevant codes/laws" to the my list in the locked Bogut thread.