Kyrie Irving is prepared to SIT OUT the rest of the season if the Brooklyn Nets refuse to trade him

Kyrie Irving could sit out the rest of the season for the Brooklyn Nets if they don’t trade him before Thursday’s deadline.

That’s according to the New York Post, who say the 30-year-old could take the nuclear option if he can’t force his way out of Brooklyn sooner than later.

Irving told the Nets last week that he wants to leave and the two sides have apparently been unable to reach an agreement on a new contract.

Irving would leave the Nets on free agency at the end of the season if they refused to trade him by Thursday.

Kyrie Irving is apparently prepared to sit the rest of the season out if he can’t leave the Nets

Irving hit the nets with a trade request last week amid failure to agree terms on a new contract

The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks have both been linked with a move for Irving in the coming week. 

Irving has endured a rocky tenure in Brooklyn, beginning with his refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine during the 2020-21 season which forced him out of the lineup for home games until New York mayor Eric Adams altered the city’s laws.

The most recent controversy to surround Irving and the nets came earlier this season when he faced backlash for tweeting a link to an ‘anti-Semitic’ film.

Irving initially refused to apologize or back down over the tweet before Brooklyn suspended him for eight games and he eventually issued an apology for sharing the 2018 documentary, which was based on a book described as ‘venomously anti-Semitic.’

Star teammate Kevin Durant also requested a trade before the current season before returning to the team.

Durant has been out of the Nets’ lineup since Jan. 8 with a right MCL sprain and the team announced last week he is expected to miss at least two more weeks.

Irving, who was selected as a starter for the 2023 All-Star Game, is averaging 27.1 points and 5.3 assists in 40 games this season and had recently carried the team on a streak of six games or more than 30 points before it was snapped against the Lakers Monday night.

The Nets are fourth in the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-20 record and play next on Monday night against the Clippers at the Barclays Center.

Until him bombshell request, Irving had been playing excellently for the Nets in recent weeks

The Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks have been linked with moves for Irving by Thursday

Irving was criticized by Stephen A. Smith after news emerged of his trade request.

‘Obviously the situation that he got himself in earlier this year was unfortunate, but he resurrected himself from that, was playing spectacular basketball, leading vote getter among the guards for the all star game… and reminding everyone what an absolute flat-out superstar basketball player he is,’ Smith said.

‘No one questioned that, all we ever questioned was: can the man go the rest of the season without being any kind of distraction, if he’s gonna have a chance to get his money. And lo and behold he pulls this.

‘And why? Because the Brooklyn Nets had the temerity, the unmitigated gall to say, ‘play the season, we’ll see. because we haven’t had you for a full season without any drama.’