“He’s joining the Lake Show” Kyrie Irving seen practicing with Phil Handy hours before skipping Drew League game
Kyrie Irving closer to the Lakers
This offseason is proving to be a wild ride already, with Kyrie Irving decided to opt into his $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season, thus delaying his free agency for another year. However, this does not prevent the Nets superstar from joining the Lakers and reuniting with his former teammate and good friend, Lebron James. With multiple reports already suggesting that Kyrie wants to be in LA with the Lakers, today the former NBA champion dropped another hint after he missed the Drew league game, featuring Lebron James and DeMar DeRozan, to help out Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy at his camp.
Kyrie Irving is witnessing the Avengers of Brooklyn falling apart under his nose, as the city is in shambles after Kevin Durant’s trade request away from Brooklyn has left everyone in disbelief. The Brooklyn Nets had one of the most nightmarish seasons, with catastrophes on and off the court, as the Nets were swept off their feet by the Boston Celtics in the first round of playoffs, concluding their disappointing season and a disastrous postseason, far below preseason hopes and expectations.
“He is almost a Laker Now” – Kyrie Irving leaves Drew League match to go help Lakers assistant coach, sparks further rumors of his move to LA
The Drew League is a renowned pro-am basketball league. People jam-pack high school basketball gyms to see a diverse array of skilled players compete. Hence, to call it the giant mecca of summer basketball would likely be fair. It was established in Los Angeles in 1973 and since then, countless NBA luminaries have embraced the action-packed league. Players like Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce, Trevor Ariza, Chris Paul, John Wall, and a boatload of others have all hit the Drew League courts. Even the late great Kobe Bryant took part in 2011. He dropped 45 and sank a game-winning dagger over James Harden, sending fans into a frenzy.
Lebron has just sent shockwaves across the NBA after announcing his return to the Drew League for the first time since 2011, yesterday. Not only that, DeMar DeRozan had also confirmed that he would play in the Drew League tomorrow, as ‘Uncle drew’ himself was reportedly going to join these superstars. But that ultimately never happened, while Irving was not partaking in the pro-am basketball event, he was helping out Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy at his camp, which sent the Lakers fans in raptures.
This is not the first time Kyrie has fueled his rumors to LA. Recently, Kyrie played into the Lakers rumors as he found himself at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles. The Nets superstar was there to take in a Los Angeles Sparks game, and as soon as Kyrie entered the building, he was met with a chorus of cheers. Needless to say, Los Angeles basketball fans want him in L.A. on a permanent basis. Kyrie has had a stressful season to say at the very least, with his extension with the Nets being one of the biggest stories of the season.
Even while Kyrie Irving has decided to opt into his $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season, thus delaying his free agency for another year. Brooklyn has reportedly been unwilling to offer Irving a full max extension without financial concessions from Irving, like incentives or non-guaranteed years. However, he can still join the Lakers by opting out of the last year on his contract and signing for them through their $6 million taxpayer midlevel exception or picking up his player option and having L.A. and Brooklyn engineer a trade that would send him to California.
This could also be the case of Kyrie just helping out a friend. These two worked together during their time with the Cleveland Cavaliers where Handy was an assistant coach between 2013 and 2018. Irving and Handy go way back and this could merely be an innocent coincidence.
It’s certainly a triple-double of problems, problems and more problems for the Nets as they face plenty of questions financially and technically. From figuring out a way for the team to get over the lows and win a championship, the team also has to take care of the business side and make sure they can continuously support the franchise financially to keep competing in the future. As for Kyrie, will he unite with his Cavaliers teammate, Lebron, remains to be seen !
Also Read :
Also Read :
Aditya Minocha
(216 Articles Published)