The Mavericks star teed off on the revenge game narrative as he visits Barclays Center for the first time since his trade from the Nets.
On Tuesday, Kyrie Irving will be facing the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center for the first time since the Dallas Mavericks acquired him last year for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and a future first-round pick. As is the case with these sort of things, the dominant narrative surrounding the game is Irving’s return to an arena he previously called home and the emotions that come with it after he requested a trade from the Nets, essentially marking an end to the Irving-Kevin Durant era in Brooklyn.
For Irving, however, media members shouldn’t make too big of a deal out of the accompanying emotions that come with such homecoming of sorts. After all, the Mavericks guard said that this will always be a part of the game and that this shouldn’t be that groundbreaking anymore.
“I think we just gotta normalize [this]. Obviously there’s some history there with certain teams. There’s a competitive edge that you have going into each game when you play against your former team. It’s not uncommon. It’s been happening for years. I was just saying that to say that to say let’s just normalize the emotions that go into these games instead of making it such a big deal,” Irving said, via Brad Townsend of Dallas Morning News.
Kyrie Irving then added that reporters shouldn’t blow these “revenge game” narratives out of proportion, as it tends to distract from the task at hand as the Mavericks try to get a win over the struggling Nets.
“It’s nothing deeper to look into. We need to do a better job of not making it into something else other than sports,” Irving added. “We just need to normalize [the fan reactions]. It’s basketball. Fans are gonna be fans. Some people don’t love you, some people are not gonna like you 1707203964 that you left. But it’s all part of the overall conglomerate that we are as a league,” Irving added.
Nets fans may not be too pleased with Kyrie Irving; Irving became a major distraction during the 2021-22 season due to his vaccine stance, and then he requested a trade from the franchise even though the Nets were able to right the ship in the aftermath of his suspension during the early goings of the 2022-23 season. The Mavericks star, however, seems to be prepared for everything that will be coming his way.
