Kyrie Irving has been facing a lot of heat this past week. He has been noticeably absent from the court in the past week of games the Brooklyn Nets have played after attending his sister's birthday party, and it has yet to be confirmed whether or not he will be allowed back on the team. Seasoned sports journalist Stephan A. Smith even went as far as to suggest the player should announce his retirement explaining, "Kyrie Irving has not prioritized basketball, but I’m not saying he doesn’t want to play all together. I’m saying he hasn’t prioritized it, and how fair was that to Brooklyn Nets?" Often around to chime in on current pop culture hot topics, NLE Choppa is jumping in to defend the basketball star.
"They hate kyrie Irving cause he ain’t a puppet," the 18-year old Memphis rapper penned in a tweet adding laughing emojis. "mane f*ck y'all." Choppa seems to be commending the athlete for still moving to the beat of his own drum despite signing a contract with the team committing to making the appearances before the season even started.
Earlier in the week, ESPN journalist Jackie MacMullan faced backlash for referring to Kyrie Irving as "property" while recalling an interaction they had on The Ryen Russillo Podcast.
“So I will tell you this, I was thinking of all the conversations I’ve had with Kyrie (Irving) through the year,” MacMullan said. “One of them I had, I don’t know, two years ago, we got into an argument about, you know, something. And he’s like, ‘Well there shouldn’t be an NBA draft. Players should be able to go wherever they want to go. We’re not, you know, someone’s property.’ And I’m like, yeah you are dude. That’s the way it works.”
We'll keep you updated on further developments in the Kyrie Irving discourse.