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Kyrie Irving ‘in no rush to make a decision’ on free agency, doesn’t like speculation

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Kurt Helin agrees that any talk involving LeBron James and the word retirement is a "leverage play" to put pressure on Rob Pelinka and convince the Lakers to improve the roster during the offseason.

If there is one thing the NBA does better than any other league in America, it’s generating buzz with speculation about player movement (occasionally followed by blockbuster deals, but most of the time not). Kyrie Irving is in the middle of this year’s off-season storm as one of the best free agents on the market this season — sitting courtside at Lakers games certainly helps fuel that.

Irving doesn’t like it. He doesn’t want to be in the middle of that storm for the next month to six weeks.

Irving told fans on Instagram Live Wednesday he plans to take his time with making a decision, and not to believe everything you read about him.

“I’m a free agent this summer, but I’m in no rush to make a decision. When [media personalities] speak on my name and they’re talking about potential teams that I’m going to, can y’all please, respectfully, please stop paying attention to that?”

Irving also asked people to chill on the speculation about his future destination — and stop filling his mentions with it.

“Stop mentioning me on Twitters. All your fan bases stop mentioning me right now, please. It is still the Western Conference the Eastern Conference Finals, or excuse me Denver’s gone to the Finals you know we’re still waiting for Boston in Miami. Can y’all please leave me the f*** out of this? Please. Can I just be with my family in peace? Y’all got people at my dinner table discussing with my free agency plans are. Y’all think is funny s*** but please stop that. I actually like having peace of mind when I met the crib, alright. I see all your ats, all y’all s mentions. Okay? I said I see all your stuff y’all be saying...

“Please, all your fan bases, like stop mentioning me just for like the next month or two or three [until] whenever I make my decision.”

It’s easy to appreciate Irving not wanting to be the center of the speculation storm, but this time of year he will have to get an umbrella and just try to stay out of the worst of it. Only three fan bases fully engaged in the games and 27 others talking about what offseason moves their team should make.

It would be ironic to speculate about Irving’s future here, but I will say most league sources NBC Sports has spoken with expect him to ultimately re-sign with the Mavericks (how many years and for how much money is up for debate). However, that sentiment is almost always followed by some version of “Irving can be unpredictable” and a shrug.