Kyrie Irving Requests Trade From Brooklyn, The Franchise That Wouldn't Allow Him To Play Without Being Vaccinated

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Kyrie Irving has reportedly requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets and wants to be dealt before the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 9.

The Athletic's Shams Charania was the first to report Irving's trade request. According to Charania, Irving will leave Brooklyn this offseason if the Nets don't trade him before the deadline.

At first glance, Irving's trade request, specifically the timing of it, comes as a bit of a shock. The Nets are 31-20 on the year despite losing seven of their 11 games since Kevin Durant went down with a knee injury. On top of that, Irving is playing extremely well averaging 27.1 points and 5.3 assists per game.

When you think back to last season, however, it's surprising Irving didn't request a trade sooner.

In October 2021 Nets GM Sean Marks announced that Irving would not be able to play or practice with the team due to his unvaccinated status and the New York City COVID-19 mandate in place. Irving was eligible to play in away games, but Marks kept him from doing so by conducting his pro-vaccine, political stunt and keeping Irving off the floor.

Two months later, Irving was allowed to play in road games outside of New York City and Toronto, which had a strict vaccination policy in place as well.

Despite being kept from doing his job for the majority of last season, Irving surprisingly opted into his player option during the offseason.

After the vaccine charade, plus his promotion of an anti-semitic film that resulted in an eight-game suspension earlier this season, Irving sees this as the right time to get out of Brooklyn.

Charania's report stating Irving will leave as a free-agent if he's not traded by the deadline is also noteworthy. This puts pressure on the Nets to find a trade partner and get something in return for the point guard instead of letting him walk for free this summer.

If Irving is traded by the deadline he will have suited up for three different NBA teams in the last five seasons.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.