A celebrity therapist hired by Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving to facilitate wellness workshops at a family retreat he hosted claims the eight-time NBA All-Star is now refusing to pay for her services — which included additional counseling after one attendee died unexpectedly during the event.
Social worker Natasha McCartney provided, among other things, guided meditation sessions, ionic foot baths, and “intuitive life readings” to Irving and his relatives at a five-day gathering in North Dakota last summer, according to a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court and obtained by The Independent. When she was forced to pivot quickly to crisis intervention and grief counseling, McCartney’s suit says she went above and beyond, acting as a liaison between police and the family, making arrangements with the coroner, and “promptly facilitat[ing] the removal of Kyrie from the scene to avoid media exposure.”
However, some five months later, Irving, who is earning a salary of $40 million for the 2024-2025 season, continues to withhold the nearly $400,000 he owes McCartney, the lawsuit alleges. It accuses Irving of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud, and seeks payment in full, plus interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees.
Irving’s attorney, Steven Olenick, did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. Attorney Michael Faragalla, who is representing McCartney, told The Independent that Irving has shown little interest in mending fences with his therapist of nearly a half-decade.
“After making direct contact with Kyrie Irving and his associates, Mr. Irving put it all off on his supporting cast,” Faragalla said on Monday afternoon. “He even failed to pick up the phone and call Natasha McCartney, so he didn’t make any effort to resolve [the situation] prior to the actual filing [of the lawsuit]. Of course, he had an attorney retained, and of course, his manager and his agent got involved and made several insulting offers, but Kyrie Irving himself never personally tried to make amends.”
Faragalla’s co-counsel at law firm Spiegel & Utrera P.A., Alejandro Echeverria, said they do “a detailed exploration with our clients before any potential lawsuit,’ and we wouldn’t have taken this case on unless we felt strongly that our client’s rights had been violated. This is a very simple case of somebody who performed professional services, with a clear understanding of what those services were, and who has really not been treated fairly.”
McCartney, who is based in New York, “acknowledges the singular challenges confronting celebrities, which few comprehend fully,” her website tells prospective clients. “Initially, the careers of professional athletes, musicians, actors, and public figures demand exceptional dedication, necessitating rigorous preparation and sustained peak performance that can strain even the most accomplished individuals.”
Irving, a vocal anti-vaxxer who has shared antisemitic conspiracy theories online and stated publicly that he believed the earth may be flat, played for the Brooklyn Nets for four seasons before being traded to Dallas last year. He was picked first overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, helped lead the team to a championship in 2016, and is widely considered to be a future Hall of Famer. McCartney’s lawsuit says she has had a longstanding professional relationship with the 32-year-old Irving, having worked with him and his family since 2020. So, according to the suit, when Irving asked if McCartney would be willing to put on a series of workshops for him and a group of relatives and friends at a retreat in North Dakota from June 28 to July 2, she didn’t hesitate.
Irving first told McCartney there would be 50 to 60 guests at the retreat, subsquently upping the headcount to 115, the lawsuit states. However, when McCartney arrived, she learned there were in fact 150 participants on-site.
“Despite the unexpected increase in attendees [McCartney] reorganized [her] entire 5-day program to make space for the non-expected guests,” the suit continues.
McCartney charged more than $100,000 for preparation, researching and designing custom meditation sessions, designing special workbooks, and putting together a planned “masterclass” over the course of 22 days, according to an invoice filed in court as an exhibit. At the retreat itself, the invoice says McCartney led members of the Irving family through 30-minute mindfulness gatherings each morning, charging $5,500 for each, held a two-hour non-violent communication session, charging $25,000, organized three days worth of “intuitive life readings,” for which she charged $9,000, and hired an “ionic foot detox” provider for $7,200.
It says McCartney also worked with a branding agency to create “additional brading services” for the retreat, at a cost of $100,710. Related line items included $5,000 worth of “visual identity development,” $4,000 for onsite photography and video footage, a $6,000 charge for “gift bag ideation,” and $11,880 for “event amplification (collecting emails & phone numbers).” In all, McCartney billed Irving $386,660, minus a “Kyrie Irving discount” of $236,660, for a total of $150,000, the invoice shows.
On June 30, “the program and retreat came to a stop due to the tragic death of a participant during the event,” McCartney’s lawsuit states, adding that she “adapted and provided additional crisis intervention services to ensure the retreat continued smoothly.”
A separate invoice shows Irving’s stepmother, Shetellia Riley-Irving, approved McCartney’s proposal for “crisis management and bereavement services,” made up of “onsite therapy sessions for a family in crisis,” “onsite grief therapy to all participants,” and a pair of “critical stress debriefings.”
McCartney “retained the security services of [her] husband… a retired NYPD Internal Affairs Detective 1st Grade from the Internal Affairs Division, to manage the situation and coordinate intervention with state officers,” the lawsuit goes on.
She also “acted as the liaison between the family and North Dakota officers to secure the crime scene of the deceased family member,” the lawsuit continues. “She provided essential information to ensure that guests were not interrogated by [police], promptly facilitated the removal of Kyrie from the scene to avoid media exposure, and assisted the Coroner with preparations for the family viewing and transportation.”
These additional services came to $140,000, for a grand total of $390,710, according to the suit, which does not provide further detail about the person who died or how they were related to Irving.
Upon returning home from the retreat, Irving “refused to honor [his] agreement” with McCartney, the lawsuit states.
“Despite multiple demands and amicable attempts to resolve the matter, [Irving has] failed to make full payment towards these invoices,” it contends.
Although Irving “has… paid [McCartney] every single time they have worked together in the past,” and told McCartney that he would “take care of any costs associated” with the family retreat, McCartney’s suit says she “has lost confidence” in Irving, necessitating legal action.
Irving now has roughly three weeks to file a formal response to McCartney’s claims.
