Kyrie skips All-Star morning media session
Nets All-Star guard Kyrie Irving could face more NBA sanctions after he backed out of his 11:10 a.m. Zoom call with the media on All-Star Sunday.
The media was notified at 11:15 a.m. during the call that Irving would not be joining and that he had decided he’d only talk postgame. He had little to say after the 170-150 loss by his Team Durant, in which he scored 24 points — on 10 of 15 from the field— and added 12 assists.
The 24 All-Stars were mandated to speak to the media on Sunday in the late morning/early afternoon since they were permitted to show up for the All-Star Game on Saturday night instead of Friday as had been the custom in the past.
The NBA is expected to look into why Irving missed the call without giving prior notice.
The 28-year-old, seventime All-Star was fined $25,000 by the league for not talking on the standard Media Day at the outset of training camp.
At the time, Irving posted on Instagram that he was tired of “someone else’s propaganda,” referring to the sports media. Rumors circulated Irving wouldn’t talk the entire season.
When the NBA fined Irving, it stated, “The fines result from Irving’s refusal on several occasions this week to participate in the team media availability.”
At the time, , Irving wrote in a statement he hoped the fine money would support marginalized communities. Irving also added, “My goal this season is to let my work on and off the court speak for itself.”
➤ The NBA ruled Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons ineligible to play in the AllStar Game due to exposure to an individual who recently tested positive for COVID-19.
The two 76ers stars faced contact tracing after exposure to a personal barber before they arrived in Atlanta.
“Prior to traveling to Atlanta, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons had contact with an individual who is confirmed today to have tested positive for the coronavirus,” the NBA said in a statement Sunday.
➤ Donovan Mitchell doesn’t need LeBron James’ approval. King James dissed the Jazz during the All-Star draft selection when remarking on the Utah standouts, Mitchell and center Rudy Gobert, being the last two selections made. Team Durant scooped up Mitchell and Team LeBron, perhaps reluctantly, took Gobert.
“I don’t want to be rude, but I really don’t care,” Mitchell said during Sunday’s All-Star availability Zoom call. “People have been talking s--- about me for a while. We’re not doing this to seek the approval of [James].”
During the televised draft this past week for Sunday’s game, TNT’s Ernie Johnson expressed surprise the final two players left in the draft were from the NBA’s best team, Utah.
“There’s no slander to the Utah Jazz,” James said Thursday. “You guys gotta understand, just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah.”