What’s the status on Kyrie Irving’s player option for 22-23?

Kyrie Irving has a $36.5 million player option for the 2022-23 season. Will he opt in to stay with the Brooklyn Nets or seek a change?

At the time of this writing, Kyrie Irving is still a member of the Brooklyn Nets. But heading into the 2022 offseason, things could change rather quickly for Uncle Drew and the Nets. Irving has a player option for next year; once he decides to opt in or out things will likely move quickly.

The tumult of the 21-22 campaign is well-documented. The club reportedly considered trading Irving, although the risk of alienating or upsetting his long-time pal Kyrie Irving always looms large. At times, though, KD and Kai looked incredibly potent, and Brooklyn’s laundry list of injuries made it hard to truly assess things. 

Will Kyrie opt into his player option, and should he? If he doesn’t, what happens next? It’s difficult to know what to do next – general manager Sean Marks recently demurred when asked about Kyrie’s future.

Let’s explore Kyrie Irving’s current contract situation: