Brooklyn Nets: Are Isiah Thomas’ Kyrie Irving comments valid?

The Brooklyn Nets have one of the game’s best players on their roster in Kyrie Irving, but with that mesmerizing ball-handling and lights-out shooting comes the potential for the point guard to speak his mind on just about anything that tickles his fancy. One issue he is not going to let slide is some potentially dubious trade rumors.

FOX Sports analyst Nick Wright tried to concoct some rumors about the Nets and their willingness to deal Irving, which seems odd considering the entire reason they are where they are right now is that Kyrie, who grew up a Nets fan, and Kevin Durant decided to team up together.

Irving completely excoriated Wright for what he insinuated was a complete fabrication, going so far as to call him a puppet on Twitter. While this action might add more fuel to the fire that he has rabbit ears (again, a fabrication of the media), it did lead to Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas coming out as a staunch supporter of Irving.

In an interview with BasketballNews.com, Thomas defended Irving’s decision to go after Wright, claiming that he has a right to hit back when the media is misrepresenting what the situation may be. Thomas claims there is a bit of a double standard, as the media will often criticize Irving while bristling at No. 11 himself punching back.

"“I respect the independence that Kyrie has shown throughout this entire process,” Thomas said. “Sometimes the media gets it wrong. And when the media gets called out on being wrong, their response is almost ‘How dare you?… So respect my voice, and that’s what Kyrie has been saying. And he’s been very authentic.”"

Isiah Thomas backed up Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving

Wright and Chris Broussard have been vocal in their desire to see the Nets trade Irving to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for disgruntled 6-11 point guard Ben Simmons, claiming that one team with a surplus of scoring and less defensive skill could offload a star in order to get better on the defensive end.

While this move doesn’t make sense from a basketball perspective, as Simmons is a complete non-factor as a shooter and would be heading to a team that wants to play fast and shoot as much as possible, the Nets would also be parting with arguably the best ball-handler in the game in the process.

Sure, Irving has had some issues with staying healthy every now and again, and sure, the presence of Harden might make him seem redundant to some, but there is almost no possible reality in which the Nets offload Irving via trade. If Kyrie needed to go after some talking heads to illustrate that point, that’s his prerogative.

Thomas knows that the Nets need Irving’s ability to score alongside Durant and James Harden. Thomas even went as far as to say that there is no chance that the Nets win a title as currently constructed without Irving. With that sort of praise, it’s no wonder that Brooklyn is laughing off any attempt to trade for Kyrie.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1439941524758933508

Thomas is right in saying that the Nets would struggle without Irving, as their early playoff exit against Milwaukee shows that, despite all of their offensive weaponry, his ability to wiggle to the rim and convert some of the most gravity-defying looks you’ll ever see have made him quite the valued commodity.

Phony trade rumors have existed since the dawn of time, but what Irving and several other players have been doing of late by calling out situations when sources may have been inaccurate is essentially holding the media accountable.

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