Following a week full of conflicting reports and rumors, Nets star Kyrie Irving plans to opt into his $36.9 million player option for the 2022–23 season, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday.
The enigmatic point guard’s decision comes two days shy of Wednesday’s deadline and halts Irving’s reported pursuit of a possible sign-and-trade. The announcement also came with a message from Irving who said, according to Charania, “Normal people keep the world going, but those who dare to be different lead us into tomorrow. I’ve made my decision to opt in. See you in the fall. A11even.”
Moments after the news broke on Twitter, Irving shared a GIF on his account of the character Liam Gallagher from the hit Showtime series Shameless. The GIF shows Liam saying “I know who I am” along with the quote written as a caption underneath.
Interestingly, Irving, who is known to use GIFs to express his views on various topics, didn’t provide any additional context in his response. But his choice of GIF may make some Shameless fans scratch their heads; in the scene, Liam’s quote comes after the young man was grilled for asking mourners at a funeral for money to buy flowers to honor the deceased, only to reveal later he planned to pocket the money himself.
Nevertheless, Irving’s reported decision to re-up in Brooklyn following a hectic 2021–22 season figures to alter the free agency market ahead of June 30. The 30-year-old is eligible to sign an extension until Thursday or he’ll enter the 2023 offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
