Damian Lillard on Kyrie Irving: 'He has the most beautiful game in NBA history'

While the Portland Trail Blazers guard hopes to be dealt to the Miami Heat, that hasn’t stopped other teams from wanting to trade for him. “I’ve heard that it’s not just one team, that multiple teams in the East [called for Dame], the Raptors being one of them,” Matt Moore said on the Locked On NBA podcast. “That’s the thing nobody is really saying, but everyone around the league knows the Raptors we’re amongst the teams. They’ve kicked the tires.” -via Blazers Edge / September 20, 2023

“[Miami Heat wants] Damian Lillard. They just want him for as little as they’re going to have to give up… They’re essentially daring [the Trail Blazers] to go out into the marketplace— which Portland is doing.” -via Twitter / September 20, 2023

But Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard shot back at those critics by pointing out the extremely high level of basketball that took place inside the bubble (h/t Lakers Daily). “I feel like it would have been hard to win that ’cause people was fresh, bruh,” he said. “… Everybody was fresh. That’s why you seen dudes hooping like that ’cause it was nothing else, so I feel like that would make it harder to win it all.” “… It count to me ’cause you gotta look at it like this — why don’t it count?” he continued. “Nobody else won it. Everybody else had the same opportunity. Everybody else had the same opportunity to win it, so why they didn’t win it?” -via lebronwire.usatoday.com / September 20, 2023

Chinese basketball fans flocked to Xiamen airport on Sunday to catch a glimpse of the NBA’s Kyrie Irving on his first trip to China since 2017. The Dallas Mavericks guard flew into the Fujian province for a promotional tour with sports apparel brand Anta, one of whose head corporate offices is based in the city. A video circulating on Chinese social media showed Irving fighting his way through a packed mob chanting his name. -via / September 18, 2023

The four-year contract he signed in 2019 with Brooklyn included a complex set of eight incentives each season that totaled $4 million ($1 million each year) over the length of the contract. Irving earned $1.5 million of a possible $4 million in incentives under that contract. Irving’s three-year, $120 million deal with Dallas contains an additional $2 million per season of incentives but with less complicated language. Irving will receive $1 million each season if he plays in at least 65 games and an additional $1 million if the Mavericks win at least 50 games (Irving also has to play in 50 games to earn this bonus). -via ESPN / September 17, 2023

Kyrie Irving: The Power of I AM. I Wrote it down and followed through. 4th Grade Version of Me is Proud I stuck with it and achieved something special. Chief Hélà 🤞🏾🪶 pic.twitter.com/VFZHEkCk7N -via Twitter @KyrieIrving / September 17, 2023