By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
Architect of the victory obtained this Friday by the Mavericks in Phoenix, Kyrie Irving also attended the brawl between some of his teammates and Jusuf Nurkic. Asked to react to it afterwards, he delivered a speech which risks making people cringe.
No Luka Doncic? No problem for the Mavericks. Deprived of their Slovenian genius for at least a month according to insiders NBAthe latter still managed to get rid of the Suns away this Friday (98-89). A success that they owe in particular to their other star, Kyrie Irvingwhose 20 points scored, but above all the calm did not harm his team in this meeting.
Kyrie Irving’s bold comments on the Mavs/Suns brawl
Imperturbable on the floor, Irving did not let himself be carried away by the tensions which reigned in recent hours at the Footprint Center. Tensions which, on the other hand, led to the expulsions of Naji Marshall, PJ Washington and Jusuf Nurkic after a scuffle that went viral. A privileged spectator of this sequence, Kyrie greatly amused Internet users with his facial expression:
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Visibly shaken by the scene that unfolded before his eyes, the leader confirmed this impression in a post-match press conference with… cheeky remarks:
Kyrie Irving : I was a little lost, yeah! (Laughs) It happened so quickly but in moments like that, the players just have to protect themselves. And I think that’s what PJ and Naji did after he was pushed.
You know, when you play basketball in the street — even if that wasn’t the case here — you shouldn’t give in and retaliate when this kind of thing happens. I’m going to pay them their fines so we can sweep this thing under the rug. Forgive my language, but sometimes that’s part of basketball. I hadn’t seen that yet this year, but maybe it will help boost audiences to end 2024!
Instead of condemning his teammates’ conduct, as the NBA would certainly have wanted, Uncle Drew deemed it appropriate for the situation. In addition to that, he humorously considered that this kind of clash could prove beneficial for the league, whose television audiences plummet at the start of the season. So many cheeky words that could earn him a fine too.
Leader of the Mavs in the absence of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving did not take part in the fight which took place this Friday on the Suns floor. On the other hand, he endorsed it without problem at a press conference. Enough to potentially get yourself into trouble.
