NBA Rumors: Kyrie Irving Wants Season Scrapped After Being Denied To Become ‘Bystander’ In Orlando

Kyrie Irving has made the headlines over the last couple of days after he blatantly called out the continuation of the 2020 NBA season as a mere distraction to their fight for social justice. But retired big man Kendrick Perkins is not having any of it as he claimed the injured Brooklyn Nets guard is just vengeful after not being permitted to join his team in the Orlando bubble.

Perkins, now a TV analyst for ESPN, did not mince his words as he ripped Irving for using some strong-arm tactics in compelling players to abandon the season restart.

"If you take Kyrie Irving's brain and put it in a bird right now ...it's going to fly backwards because Kyrie right now is confused, he’s showing his lack of leadership,” Perkins said during an episode of ESPN’s “Get Up” on Tuesday.

“Here it is: Kyrie, you have been on these conference calls over the last two months. You’re the vice president of the Players Association. You have been very involved in all this that’s taking place as far as whether we’re going to play or not. You’ve been on the phone and you voted to play!”

The 35-year-old former NBA champion delved deeper as to Irving’s sudden change of heart. For Perkins, the only reason the 6’2 guard wants to abandon the season is that the NBA denied him access to become a “bystander” at the bubble while his team is competing.

“This was the same guy about 10 days ago that came out and said that he wanted to join the team and be in Orlando around his team. The agreement was that inactive players couldn’t go because there was only a certain amount of people in the bubble. What changed over the last 9-10 days?” Perkins told ESPN radio, via the Boston Globe.

“What changed was, from what I strongly believe and what I heard, is the NBA and the Players Association told Kyrie that, ‘No, you can’t go,’” he added.

“How can a guy’s mind-set change in 10 days? George Floyd was murdered on the 25th of May. They started protesting the next day, they started rioting the next two days. Kyrie’s mind-set just 10 days ago was that he wanted to go to Orlando. What changed since then? What changed was they told him he couldn’t go.”

It has been a muddled situation, to say the least, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has vowed to address the issues as the league draws closer to the target restart. Accordingly, a June 24 deadline is being set for players to decide whether to join the bubble or sit out for the rest of the season. For players who opt to choose the latter, Silver has said that no disciplinary action will be imposed, stating that he understands the plan to resume the season is not for everyone.