Stephen A. Smith Says Kyrie Irving is a Professional at Missing Work Who Cannot be Trusted

Stephen A. Smith went off on Kyrie Irving again on Sunday. This time on ESPN's pregame show Smith discussed the possibility of Irving getting a longterm deal. In Stephen A.'s mind, no team should do it because you don't know if he'll play.

"Kyrie Irving is box office. This brother deserves fifty million a year. I would never give him a longterm contract again. He cannot be trusted. You pay him one year at a time. I don't care how much money he gets, but you give it to him one year at a time. You know why? 'Cuz you got to make sure he's going to show up to work. This man has played more than 11 season in this NBA. He has played over 60 games four times and it's 82 games in a season. He is one of the absolute professionals at missing work. I'm not giving him a longterm deal. You've got to be crazy."

Irving has dealt with a number of injuries during his career, but since he's been in Brooklyn he's really expanded his horizons when it comes to not playing basketball. Last season he walked away from the team, pretty much without explaination. This year he missed the majority of the season because he refused to get vaccinated.

Kyrie has a player option on his contract when this season ends and has indicated he'll return to Brooklyn, but that was a month ago. Who knows what has changed in his mind since then. If the Nets aren't interested in an extension, maybe he'll test the waters and see if any team is brave enough to go against the advice of Stephen A. Smith.