Report: Kyrie Irving's agent responds to potential trades

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving won’t be leaving New York any time soon. And if they try to make him, he might never step on an NBA court again.

FOX Sports analyst Nick Wright on Wednesday reported that if the Nets try to trade Irving, he may hang them up and retire.

“There are a handful of Kyrie trades that potentially make sense for the Nets,” Wright said on Twitter. “Kyrie’s agents have made it known that Kyrie would simply retire from the NBA if Brooklyn were to trade him.”

The Brooklyn Nets are currently built to be a contender in both the Eastern Conference and the NBA Championship, with Irving taking the court alongside Kevin Durant and James Harden. But after the Philadelphia 76ers’ second-round exit to the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 NBA Playoffs, the 76ers have been actively shopping Ben Simmons, and a trade to the Nets had caught steam in recent days. Whether or not it’s realistic is up for debate, various analysts and reporters, like Wright and David Thorpe of TrueHoop, have speculated whether the trade is plausible.

Wright on Thursday put an end to that speculation, though, or at least any possibility that Irving is included in a trade to bring Simmons to New York.

Irving then responded to Wright’s report that he’d retire, appearing to call Nick Wright his “puppet” and shooting down the report.

A Puppet pic.twitter.com/iKxopt0zcL

— A11Even (@KyrieIrving) September 16, 2021

Wright had one more response for Irving, doubling down on his initial report that Irving’s agents have been telling teams and front office staffers that Irving would rather retire than me traded.

“Kyrie, if you’re saying you didn’t say you’d retire if you were traded, then your beef is with your representation, not with me, because you and I both know that’s what they’ve told people,” Wright said in his final follow up.

Irving had one last dig for Wright, tweeting, “the puppet doesn’t know he’s a puppet.”

Irving, 29, is entering his 11th season in the NFL. He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first-overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, after he spent one year at Duke. A native of Melbourne, Australia, Irving spent his high school years in New Jersey before heading to Duke.

Irving won a NBA Championship with the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, and he’s made seven NBA All-Star games. Additionally, Irving is a one-time NBA second team selection and a two-time NBA third team selection.