Irving cuts short talk of long career

ATLANTA — The discussion was about Vince Carter, now a Hawk at 41 (42 in January), still going strong, and

Kyrie Irving, 26, was asked about his own career longevity in that context.

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But before the question could be finished, Irving said through a grin, “Naw. Naw, once I’m done with this, hopefully in my early- to mid-30s, I’m done with this. I’m done with this game.” Why?

“I want to be,” the Celtics point guard said before taking on the Hawks last night. “I love basketball itself, but everything that comes with it, I’m not... yeah, it doesn’t really matter to me in terms of my life. So I enjoy the game. I enjoy being with my teammates, playing every single day, being an NBA player. This is a dream that I’ve had since I was a kid. I think everything else that comes with it doesn’t necessarily hold the same stature as it does for other people. I enjoy it though. I love this game more than anything.”

As for what issues he would take with the NBA life, Irving went deep.

“I would just say I wish sometimes there was more empathy in terms of what we’ve committed ourselves to doing every single day, you know, putting our bodies on the line and kind of understanding kind of the mental strain that you put on just trying to be great every single day at just literally putting the ball in the hoop better than you did yesterday ,” he said .“So it comes at a price, but I think that it’s what we all signed up for. And it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to take for as long as possible in order to win as many championships and be as successful as I can.”

Horford sits out

Lingering soreness in his left knee caused Al Horford to miss his first game this season last night. He is expected to play tonight against the Mavericks in Dallas.

“(It’s) not a long-term thing,” said Stevens, ‘but with the stretch we’re in right now, an extra day from Wednesday until hopefully he’ll be available (tonight).”

Said Horford: “I’ve been dealing with pain issues, and just with the back-to-back, we just thought it would be the best thing to do for me to rest (last night) and get ready for Dallas.”

Rookie Robert Williams was activated for the first time since Nov. 9 in Utah.

Second apology

Irving had already apologized on Twitter Thursday for commenting late Wednesday, “I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. (Expletive) Thanksgiving,” after the loss to the Knicks. Yesterday he offered another mea culpa, while noting the remarks were based on his Native American heritage (his late mother was born into the Standing Rock Sioux tribe).

“I think that the realization of just the message that you want to send,” he said for why he took to social media the day after to explain he “meant no disrespect” to those who celebrate the holiday. “Obviously I don’t hold anybody in contempt or anything against them if they celebrate Thanksgiving or anything like that. I obviously allowed the frustrations after the game to fester into saying something like that that shouldn’t be said in a professional setting, no matter what my beliefs are in terms of Thanksgiving and where I come from.”