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Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving broke his silence with the media on Monday, explaining why he had recently refused to speak to reporters, something that earned him a $ 25,000 fine from the NBA.
“The focus is on what’s going on here,” Irving said. “And I wanted to make sure it was clear, no distractions, nothing about dissipating, nothing about coming and going.”
Irving, one of the NBA’s most prominent players, was fined $ 25,000 by the league when he refused to speak to the media during training camp. League rules require healthy players to be available to the media after practices and games.
“It’s really about how I felt about the mistreatment of certain artists when we came to a certain platform of when we make decisions within our lives to have full control and ownership … We want to perform in a safe and secure space.” he said Monday, adding that his silence was not intended to be an attack on journalists.
Last week, the 28-year-old reacted to the fine in an Instagram post. “I pray that we use the ‘fine money’ for underserved communities in need, especially seeing where our world is currently … I don’t speak to Pawns,” he said. “My attention is worth more.”
Irving also retracted comments he made in October when, after Steve Nash’s appointment as Nets head coach, he said no. [the team] like having a head coach. “
“Steve has been incredible,” Irving, a six-time All Star, said Monday. “In a way it inspires respect. I think I have to retract my comments about the head coach a few months ago. But it’s like, man, we have a great synergy. They all feel like we’re training each other to be better, so I’m thankful for that. “
The Nets last won a playoff series in 2014, but that is expected to change this season as Irving joins 10-time All-Star Kevin Durant who, like Irving, returns from injury. The pair looked good when they played together in a preseason game Sunday.
“It’s a different show, it was a different setting, and it’s a new beginning in terms of what we’re building,” Irving said. “And go ahead with the pieces we have here. And that includes 7-11, so get to know us. “
The Nets begin their season against Durant’s previous team, the Golden State Warriors, on December 22.
