Nets trade controversial star Irving

NBA-Nets trade All-Star guard Irving to Mavericks – reports

The Brooklyn Nets have traded All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, whose tenure with the club included dozens of missed games due in part to his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine, to the Dallas Mavericks.

Kyrie Irving
Photo: Photosport

Irving, who reportedly requested to be dealt before the NBA’s February 9 trade deadline after talks about a new contract with the Nets did not go to his liking, also missed games this year after promoting an anti-Semitic documentary.

According to ESPN and The Athletic, the Nets will receive Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and second-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029 and a 2029 first-round pick for Irving, who this year was selected as an All-Star for the eighth time.

Irving, who has averaged 27.1 points, 5.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds over 40 games during the 2022-23 campaign, faced heavy criticism earlier this season for promoting a film that he later said contained “false anti-Semitic statements”.

Prior to his apology, the Nets suspended Irving for at least five games, saying that despite holding two news conferences, he had refused to disavow anti-Semitism. He ended up missing eight games.

That followed a 2021-22 season during which Irving played only 29 of the Nets’ 82 regular season games as he refused to comply with New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Irving was selected with the first overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent six seasons before being traded to the Boston Celtics.

The Nets signed Irving in mid-2019 to a four-year deal with hopes that he and Kevin Durant could bring an NBA championship to Brooklyn, but the best the duo could do was a second round appearance in the 2021 playoffs.

Irving’s three-plus seasons with the Nets ended with him appearing in only 143 of 278 regular-season games as he missed games due to injuries, suspensions and lack of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Coach Jacque Vaughn addressed Irving’s trade request on Sunday.

“I think you have responsibility as a basketball player like I do as a coach,” he said.

“I show up, I do my job every single day. That’s what I signed up for. And that’s my expectations for one through 17.”

Irving didn’t play Saturday night, with the team citing calf soreness. Without Irving out and Durant missing a 12th straight game due to a sprained right medial collateral ligament, the Nets stormed back for a wild 125-123 victory — three nights after a 139-96 loss at Boston.

– Reuters