"I Do Not Talk To Pawns. My Attention Is Worth More" - Kyrie Irving Had Quite The Response To His $25,000 Fine For Not Talking To The Media

Well that was…..something. It was only a matter of time before we got some sort of IG response from Kyrie after the league came down and handed both him and the Nets a 25K fine for not talking to the media

and now we have it. One of the more on brand Kyrie statements/rants I've seen him have. Remember, I used to decode these things for a living. I have to admit though, I'm as confused as ever. Stop distracting him and his team? Kyrie…YOU did this! You created the distraction by not talking to the media which is something required of every NBA player! If you did and even gave non answers, there is no distraction! That last line is also kind of fucked up. So all media, people who are just trying to make the best of this situation and work hard during this hell pandemic are pawns? They're beneath you and your attention is more valuable? That's just an asshole thing to say. Doesn't matter if Kyrie said it or a regular person said it. Everyone is just trying to do their job and ask you softball training camp questions. What a pompous thing to say.

This certainly isn't the first time Kyrie has taken to IG for a rant/statement like this. Remember last year he got upset that Celtics fans booed him when he didn't play at the Garden?

So this is pretty par for the course. I imagine if he's not going to talk to the media this season, we're going to get a whole bunch of these IG stories.

It's clear he doesn't give a shit about his fine or think he did anything wrong which is certainly his right. He can afford to pay whatever. But would it have been so hard to just say you know what, maybe I was wrong for not talking to the media, but the media can sometimes twist my words and that concerns me. Instead, he basically gave everyone the middle finger, called the media a bunch of pawns like they were worthless, and here we are. Something tells me that's going to rub people the wrong way and it won't be the media spin. It'll be because of HIS own actions.

Again, I won't fault any Nets fan who tries to spin this latest bit of Kyrie drama. You have to, even if you don't truly believe what you're saying. That's part of the Kyrie experience. But in a season with so much pressure about to start, this is certainly not an ideal way to kick things off.