Is Kyrie Irving Really Going to Play Dave Portnoy 1-on-1?
By Liam McKeone
On Friday evening Dave Portnoy's constant stream of criticism towards Kyrie Irving finally got a response. The Barstool Sports founder tweeted about one of his other favorite targets, Business Insider, and tagged Irving. This is a regular occurrence on Portnoy's account but for whatever reason the point guard decided to respond this time with a challenge for Portnoy to lace them up and stop talking.
I get it David. Enjoy these clips for
— Chief Hélà🤞🏾A11Even Tribe (@KyrieIrving) June 9, 2023
Now. And if you ever wanna lace ‘‘em up and play ones and earn my respect, instead of always running your mouth,
I am here.
Hélà 🤞🏾♾https://t.co/4okzWW1Hpw
Unsurprisingly this did not make Portnoy back down and instead fired him up. He responded with great confidence less than an hour later.
Fuck it. I'll play you 1 v 1. I'll beat you 21-17. I'll back you down in the paint 17 time and shoot 4 jumpers right in your face. Name a time and place. But no healthy scratches. When I say I'm gonna do something I do it. https://t.co/21oCAR0T9g
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 9, 2023
Irving fired back with a suggestion to play in Portnoy's hometown and then eat at his parents' house, suggesting some research has been done here.
How about we do it in SwampScott, Massachusetts or at TD Garden David? I want to make sure this 1v1 is on your turf, in your hometown. I’ll bring my A11even Tribe(Army).
— Chief Hélà🤞🏾A11Even Tribe (@KyrieIrving) June 9, 2023
And after we play, you can take us all around your hometown and we break
Bread at your Parents crib.
Hélà… pic.twitter.com/0G0kbPz59i
Portnoy agreed.
Phillips Park it is. Good luck with wind. I know you don't like playing unless everything is dead ass perfect. Then to my parents for knishes, latkes, challah. https://t.co/4wqXkjPZMv
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 9, 2023
That was it for the fireworks on Friday night, but on Saturday morning Irving tweeted at an Outkick writer (apparently thinking he worked for Barstool), which led Portnoy to tweet out the DM he sent to Irving in an effort to make the game happen.
Umm Kyrie you are getting companies mixed up. He doesn't work for me. But I did send you a DM yesterday to set up game. Need less talking and more action. Novel concept for you I know. @KyrieIrving https://t.co/HL0rl2juy4 pic.twitter.com/D0ixSOZFJ1
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) June 10, 2023
It feels quite unlikely that this would happen. If it does, though, I would refer you to the famous video of Brian Scalabrine playing one-on-one with a bunch of radio call-ins from New England.
Every single NBA player is at a skill level the average human can barely comprehend and Irving is in the upper, upper echelon of talent in the league. So it's pretty safe to assume a 1-on-1 with Portnoy would end up very similar to the above video.
It would, however, be tremendous content. So let's see if it happens.