Kyrie Irving ‘not going to be petty’ about rumors regarding his locker room presence

Whether or not he wants it, there always seems to be some level of drama surrounding Kyrie Irving.

While he was out due to a right shoulder impingement, there was concern over his health and how long he’d be sidelined. The Brooklyn Nets never provided a timetable, leaving room for speculation.

But whether he’s injured or healthy — like he was for Sunday’s 108-86 win over the Atlanta Hawks, in which he scored 21 points — there always seems to be the reoccurring issue of his impact on a locker room. Irving isn’t ignorant to what’s been said about him.

However, following Sunday’s win, he told reporters he’s not going to get caught up in the chatter:

I’m not going to be petty, but, ya know, there’s been a lot of things said about what I bring to the locker room. The negative side of it. But, I’m just going to continue to be me and that’s what I’ve made my mark on: just teaching guys but as well as giving them positive encouragement when needed, pulling guys to the side, making sure that we have some team outings, making sure we’re just collectively on the same page. You can see it out there when a team’s not on the same page. But for us, we understand we’re a developing team, and we gotta do the little things in order to get to that next level.

"I'm not going to be petty, but there's been a lot of things said about what I bring to the locker room"

Nets guard Kyrie Irving says he has a great relationship with his teammates pic.twitter.com/2yOgdAZ5vx

— SNY (@SNYtv) January 13, 2020

Irving and the Nets are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Utah Jazz at 7:30 p.m.