Woj: Kyrie Irving is ‘speaking for more people than we thought’

Kyrie Irving has reportedly put together a coalition of players who want to stop the NBA from resuming 2019-20 at Disney.

As LeBron James stands on the opposite side of the aisle of Kyrie Irving when it comes to restarting the 2019-20 NBA season at Disney World in Orlando at the end of July, at least two of his Los Angeles Lakers teammates are with the Brooklyn Nets point guard in this discussion: Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley.

Howard was among the first to be linked to Irving, while Bradley has taken on a larger role alongside the fellow ex-Boston Celtics guard.

Irving and Bradley “believe they’re providing a voice for those players who fear retribution if they openly voice their concerns,” according to Malika Andrews and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. With that being the case, some players have for a coalition that is “pursuing a further examination of the NBA’s plan to restart the season in Orlando.”

And now Woj is reporting that the group of players who are of a similar mind to Irving is larger than even he initially though:

I think he’s thinking for more people than we thought, even a few days ago. I think some of those people have spoken up. But there is another undercurrent of player in the league, and they’re not just lower level or young players or journeymen players. I think there’s another tier of player that is very in-tune with what Kyrie Irving, Avery Bradley, with what they’re talking about. There’s not great enthusiasm among players in this league about going into the bubble. About all the things that are going to come with it, especially on the teams who are not competing for a championship, and it’s certainly a sense you get in talking to players, good players in the league, more here, I would say, in the last week and I do think on some level Kyrie has tapped into some of that. And it’s on a multitude of issues.