WATCH: Kyrie Irving goes on hilarious rant towards trolls, critics during Twitch stream
Kyrie Irving is known not to back down from criticism, and that was again the case when the Brooklyn Nets guard recently went live on Twitch. With his team now eliminated from the NBA playoffs, Irving was spending time at home playing video game and decided he wanted to stream.
That of course brought a multitude of trolls into the chat, who were making jokes at his expense for the early postseason exit. Irving quickly snapped back, mocking the comments for their unoriginality.
“Y’all can say the same jokes,” the guard quipped. “‘Oh, Kyrie what are you doing at home?’ That’s how y’all sound to me. ‘Oh, what are you doing at home? Are you going to Cancun? …What are you doing? Oh my God, go back to Cleveland. Boston hates you, oh my God.’ That’s how y’all sound to me, cockroaches.”
Irving was a big topic of conversation this NBA season not for what he did on the court, but for his inability to stay on it. The Nets guard infamously refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, causing him to miss more than half of the season. Eventually, he was allowed to play in road games, but New York’s vaccine mandate still prevented him from being in the building for Nets home games. That mandate was lifted near the end of the season just in time for the playoffs.
After defeating Cleveland in the play-in tournament, Brooklyn earned the seven seed in the Eastern Conference and was promptly swept by Boston. After dropping 39 points against his former team in Game 1, Irving failed to score more than 20 the rest of the series. He also got into with Celtics fans during the two road games, making an obscene gesture toward the crowd after one of his shots.
Kyrie Irving has long been a polarizing figure in sports, so his reaction in the Twitch stream should come as no surprise. Regardless of what you think of his personal beliefs, the former Duke guard and seven-time All Star has more than proved his value as an NBA superstar across 11 career seasons. He has a player option for the 2022-23 season, but has already stated he plans to accept it and return to Brooklyn.