Kyrie Irving makes big claim about former team Nets
Jan 15, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) stands for the anthem before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Kyrie Irving is clearly tweeting through his absence from the playoffs this year.
The Dallas Mavericks star guard Irving reacted this week to a tweet from a Milwaukee Bucks fan lamenting how Giannis Antetokounmpo’s back injury had warped the Bucks’ first-round series against the Miami Heat this year. Irving jumped in on a Brooklyn Nets fan’s reply about how Irving’s ankle injury in the 2021 playoffs had been a similar situation.
Irving went on to claim that the Nets would have won the title that year if he had not gotten hurt.
“One of the most disappointing and painful moments of [my] career,” Irving tweeted of the injury. “If I don’t get hurt that series, every single one of us on that Brooklyn team/bandwagon would be Champions. No f***ing doubt about it.”
One of the most disappointing and painful moments of career. If I don’t get hurt that series, every single one of us on that Brooklyn team/bandwagon would be Champions.
No f***ing doubt about it.Hélà
♾— HélàA11Even Tribe (@KyrieIrving) April 25, 2023
The eight-time All-Star Irving injured his ankle in Game 4 of the Nets’ 2021 series against the Milwaukee Bucks and missed the final three games. It was Antetokounmpo’s foot that he landed on, and (even several months later) Irving seemed to suggest that Antetokounmpo had intentionally tried to injure him.
Irving actually might not be extremely far off base here since the Nets were just a Kevin Durant big toe away from eliminating the Bucks, who went on to win the championship that season. But it is always dangerous to play the what-if game since Brooklyn still would have had to face the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals and then the Phoenix Suns during the NBA Finals (all while maintaining good injury luck throughout).
Both Irving and Durant were traded away by Brooklyn this season with just a lone playoff series win to show for their three-plus seasons together. But the Nets experiment failing probably had far more to do with Irving’s own never-ending antics than with a single bad injury break.