Confirmed: Kyrie Irving will star in movie as “Uncle Drew”

If rumors of a Kyrie Irving “Uncle Drew” movie didn’t excite you last week, perhaps this will: Pepsi has confirmed to ESPN that the Cleveland Cavaliers star will be taking the role in a major motion picture.

Darren Rovell confirmed the rumor on Thursday, and the deal will include a website and merchandise that will already be available this weekend during the 2017 All-Star Game.

Via ESPN:

The future also includes an Uncle Drew website as well as limited edition merchandise, which will be unveiled at a pop-up shop in New Orleans this weekend, the site of the NBA All-Star Game. Gear will also be sold on UncleDrew.com, where a new spot called All-Star Game, starring Irving as Uncle Drew and J.B. Smoove and Baron Davis as his older friends, will debut.

The date of release for the movie is undetermined, but as Kurt wrote last week the film already has a writer and a potential plot mapped out. No spoilers here, but it’s going to be something about “getting the band back together” to play one last round. Expect to see a lot of current NBA stars in old man makeup that took 6 hours to get ready.

This is the future you guys. We’ve skipped over product placement and moved on to TV commercials turning directly into movies. No wonder the NBA salary cap for next season is expected to be around $102 million.