Kyrie Irving's First Press Conference of the Year Was Eventful

Kyrie Irving attended media day for the Brooklyn Nets on Monday after quite an adventurous summer for both Irving and the franchise. Predictably, Irving had a lot to say and complain about to reporters for the first time all year.

First, Irving said the last few months have been a "clusterf--k" after he opted into the final year of his contract and Kevin Durant requested a trade literally days later.

Then Irving provided some insight into the contract negotiations that went on between himself and the Nets. If you'll recall, Brooklyn did not want to offer him a max contract extension after his unvaccinated status caused him to miss most of the year. Irving was mad enough about that to look into how he might get to a different team but found the landscape to be barren, and thus he opted into the final year of his deal with the Nets.

Irving claimed the franchise essentially presented him with an ultimatum last summer, telling him he'd definitely get his extension if he got vaccinated. Irving, obviously, did not, and bemoaned the money he lost as a result to media today.

Then Irving complained that his decision to not get vaccinated came along with an "unfair" stigma that he wasn't committed to playing basketball, which hindered his attempts to leave the Nets this offseason.

It's, uh, pretty interesting that Irving made a decision that prevented him from taking the court and is subsequently mad that people think he doesn't want to take the court. We've also gone a full year to ponder his whole "voice of the voiceless" thing and still have zero clarity on what that means.

The Nets promise to be a prominent storyline yet again this season. They're off to a hot start.