Dallas Basketball

Mavs' Kyrie Irving Takes High Road After Bill Simmons, Celtics Critics Bash New Contract

One thing was made clear after the Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie Irving agreed to a new contract on Friday: There's still a lot of saltiness coming out of Boston.

Dalton Trigg

In this story:

Sometimes, no matter what you do to grow and improve, certain people will continue to dwell on your past. That's certainly the case when it comes to Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics' fan base and media.

On Friday, the Dallas Mavericks and Irving agreed to a new, three-year $126 million contract with the third year reportedly being a player option. It was much less than the potential five-year, $270 million max contract he could've signed if the Mavs had offered it, but it was still apparently way too much for Celtics fan and media mogul Bill Simmons, who took a jab by tweeting, "Dallas had to go to three for [$126 million] for Kyrie because there were at least three other teams ready to offer [two years, $25 million]."

Instead of getting into an ugly back-and-forth with Simmons, Irving decided to take the high road, realizing that the trolls aren't worth much of his time. "I see you couldn't help yourself with this one huh Billy Boy. Just wanna say I appreciate you and continue to be the person you are. My Tribe says hello," Irving tweeted.

Then, on an NBC Sports Boston segment, former Celtics player Brian Scalabrine, Chris Forsberg and Amina Smith reacted to the Mavs star's new contract with a lot of snark. The overall prediction was that Irving won't last the duration of his contract, and that "Kyrie or Luka will be asking for a trade by February.” Irving had a response for them as well.

Content is unavailable

When Irving left the Celtics in 2019 to join Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets, part of the reason he did so was because his grandfather passed away, and he wanted to be closer to his home in New Jersey. Despite that, Irving has continued to receive hate from Boston fans and media since then. Perhaps seeing Irving re-sign with a team and city he actually likes reopened the old wounds while adding some salt as well.

Follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to Mavs Step Back on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here. Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Published
Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

Home/News