Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets may need to rethink how they’re handling media availability.
During the NBA‘s virtual media week, Kyrie Irving released a statement in lieu of actually showing up and answering questions.
While reports about a media boycott for the entire season surfaced, those rumors were quashed by Newsday’s Greg Logan the Brooklyn Nets PR team.
In any case, the league is taking measures to ensure this doesn’t become a trend at any point in the upcoming season, as the NBA announced on Thursday that it will be fining Irving and the Nets $25,000 each.
The NBA is fining both Irving and the team for “violating league rules governing media interview access.” The league also clarified that the fines “result from Irving’s refusal on several occasions this week to participate in team media availability.”
Kyrie Irving will probably start giving Nets interviews again soon
By itself, $25,000 is a drop in the bucket for a superstar who will make $33.5 million this season. But if he were to continue avoiding media availability, those $25k fines would quickly add up — for him and the Nets alike.
As such, you can assume one of the NBA’s biggest stars will be fielding questions in virtual media availabilities in the near future to avoid further discipline from the league.
Irving unfairly came under fire over the offseason, being called a “disruptor” for simply voicing understandable concerns about A) playing during the COVID-19 pandemic and B) what the NBA planned to do to help the ongoing social justice issues that took centerstage in the wake of the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
However, Irving has also antagonized the media in the past, bringing a lot of criticism upon himself for outlandish and controversial remarks, such as his infamous “flat-earth” comments. Hopefully this fine is the first step to mending the bridges and distrust between Irving and the media, but only time will tell at this point.