Unfortunately for NBA fans, it’s the slowest part of the offseason.
The draft and free agency are long gone. The summer league finished up over a month ago. All fans can do right now is wait for the start of training camp, which isn’t even all that exciting to begin with, especially if you root for a team like the Brooklyn Nets, whose roster for the 2021-22 season is mostly set in stone.
In other words, this time of the year is a wasteland as far as NBA content is concerned. However, the Nets found themselves at the center of attention this week after Fox Sports personality Nick Wright unearthed a crazy rumor about Kyrie Irving, claiming the superstar point guard would retire if Brooklyn traded him.
Nets fans shouldn’t be fazed by this rumor. Irving is more than content in Brooklyn and general manager Sean Marks is keen on signing the 29-year-old, who has two years left on his current contract, to a multiyear extension.
Leaving no doubt that his future lies with the Nets, Irving destroyed Wright with a perfect response on Twitter after he caught wind of the rumor.
Nets star Kyrie Irving clapped back at Nick Wright on Twitter.
Did Wright really think Irving was going to let this slide? A sports talk show host trying to spread rumors about a high-profile NBA star never ends well. Just ask ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard. The two analysts are the poster children for leaking would-be big stories that ultimately had zero traction.
While Wright doesn’t belong in that category just yet, he’s getting awfully close, so he better tread lightly during the upcoming season.
It’s clear that Wright didn’t get the message, because he decided to reply to Irving’s roast, saying the seven-time All-Star should have beef with his “representation,” which is allegedly spreading the rumors that Irving would call it a career if the Nets traded him.
Credit to Wright for defending himself, but he’s fighting a losing battle. Irving clearly had no interest in getting into a back-and-forth with the “First Things First” co-host, so he doubled down on his earlier take.
Check this out, Nets fans.
Wright called it quits after that one, so he got the message.
While Irving is no Kevin Durant when it comes to burying trolls on Twitter, he proved in this sequence that he’s learned a lot from his Nets teammate.
Let this serve as a lesson to any big-chested talk show host who feels like they’ve stumbled across an earth-shattering rumor.
There’s a reason Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charania, Chris Haynes and all the other credible insiders out there get paid the big bucks.
Stay out of the way and let them do their jobs.
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