Kyrie Irving has thrown down the gauntlet. The Nets point guard wants to take on the player who took over as Boston’s point guard when he left the Celtics for Brooklyn, Kemba Walker, in a 1-on-1 battle.
But, it’s not for the reason fans might expect. Irving’s desire for the matchup against Walker doesn’t have to do with any NBA drama.
Brooklyn native turned four-year West Virginia starter and international basketball standout Truck Bryant was visited by Irving on his Instagram Live session back in April (the conversation was posted to YouTube in April by Basketball Instagrams and resurfaced on Twitter on Sunday by @NetsBrooklyn). Shortly after Irving joined the broadcast, Irving put out the challenge:
That’s my matchup, I want K-Walk. That’s my big bro. I want K-Walk. That’s my big bro. You know we got mutual respect, but I know everybody wants to see it out of New York, New Jersey. Everytime we play against each other, it’s always a game. He gave us 40, I gave him 40, back-and-forth. That’s just part of where we grew up.
Between Irving’s injury and the NBA’s ongoing hiatus, basketball fans will have to wait a while for any sort of matchup between the two guards.