Kyrie Irving ended his media boycott by finally speaking with reporters on Monday, and the Brooklyn Nets star tried to walk back some of his previous comments that led to negative headlines.
For starters, Irving denied that he was referring to the media as “pawns” when he issued a statement on Friday explaining why he had previously refused to speak with reporters. He said he wasn’t directly referencing reporters when he wrote “I do not talk to pawns” but rather trying to have his “voice protected.”
“The focus is on what’s going on in here, you know, my job,” Irving said, via SNY’s Scott Thompson. “And I wanted to make sure that that was clear, no distractions, nothing about dispelling anything, nothing about going back-and-forth, nor about calling out one person or another, not even to refer to you guys as pawns, you know what I mean, or media.”
Irving said his thoughts were more a reflection of how he feels about “the mistreatment of certain artists.” He probably won’t do himself any favors with that quote, as it is more of the same out-of-touch jargon we have heard from him for years now.
Irving was also asked about remarks he made previously about Nets head coach Steve Nash on Kevin Durant’s “The ETCs” podcast. Kyrie said he didn’t feel the Nets had a “head” coach following the hiring, but he spoke glowingly of Nash on Monday.
“You know, I think I’ve got to take back my comments in terms of the head coach back a few months ago,” Irving said. “Steve’s been amazing. And it really is a reflection of the type of person he is, and the IQ he has for the game. He commands the respect and it’s not through just coming in and being the kind of typical rah-rah coach being on us.”
It’s unclear what exactly Irving is trying to accomplish, but even some of his peers have been critical of his approach. Kevin Love strongly disagreed with his former teammate’s statement. Charles Barkley took things a step further with his thoughts on Irving’s media boycott.
