(Photo: Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports/REUTERS)
It is clear now that Kyrie Irving does not approve of the NBA coming to life again while racial tension still grips America. The Brooklyn star sees the league playing basketball again, taking away the focus from the fight against inequality and injustices. Irving recommends snubbing the season restart and perhaps starting a new league.
Reportedly, that was part of the discussions that the NBPA covered during the online call arranged chiefly by Irving. For the most part, the Nets point guard called on the players' union members to reconsider going to Orlando in light of the protests that erupted across America following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
NBC Sports reported that during the conversation last week, Irving proposed the possibility of forming a new league. The report picked up from the details shared by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
"Irving proposed that players could start their own league," Bondy was reported as saying. The journalist also indicated that the idea came out during a separate discussion, meaning Irving's stance on the NBA season restart is not necessarily connected to the proposed league.
This was backed by Bleacher Report, saying in a related story that the players' discussion did not push for the creation of a possible NBA competition to show opposition to the planned bubble games in Orlando's Disney World.
Also, in the same report, what Irving dropped was not necessarily received with thumbs of approval from those who attended. For one, his teammate Kevin Durant is said to be far from enthusiastic on the specter of putting up a new league that will be in direct collision with the NBA.
The reservation is but understandable as it's hard to imagine how a new competitor will go against an established league that earns millions for NBA superstars. CBS Sports said getting the attention of big-name basketball players will only the least of the concerns of such an organization.
More daunting is how to operate the league and keep it going, and face up with issues that could threaten its existence. The NBA itself is a good example as the league is deemed standing on solid ground until the coronavirus pandemic came up. It's obvious now that, however, strong the organization is, the struggle to survive is just real.
At best, the idea coming from Irving can be classified as weird, and NBC said the former Cleveland man is known to be dishing similar things in the past, so it's hardly a surprise that it came from him.
