Kyrie Irving asks media to avoid questions about his Dallas future calling it ’emotionally draining’

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving asked the press covering him and the team to focus on the team’s current efforts and avoid discussions about his future.

The recent Dallas acquisition was just about to play his first home game for the Mavericks – a 124-121 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves – when he told the media that he wishes to remain focused on the here-and-now.

‘It puts unwarranted distractions on us and our team,’ Irving said prior to taking the court. 

‘I’ve dealt with it before, and it’s very emotionally draining to ask questions like, “What’s the long term? What’s the long term?”‘

According to reports, Irving and the Mavericks both agreed that they wouldn’t talk about extending his current contract until the playoffs are over. 

Kyrie Irving opened up, asking the media not to focus on his future with the Dallas Mavericks

Irving turned the ball over in the game’s dying seconds, as the Mavs fell to Minnesota 124-121

The game ended as Irving and fellow star Luka Doncic passed the ball back and forth, with Irving turning the ball over without getting a shot up as time expired.

‘I’m still trying to emotionally recover, man,’ Irving said after the game, with his head in his hands. 

‘It’s still so raw. Ah, man. I would have liked to at least get a shot up.’ 

While Irving says that he’s felt welcomed by the Mavericks as an organization – and by his teammates – he added that it would be premature to discuss an extension while the team sits fifth in the Western Conference. 

‘I will say that from the start, from when I came here, there’s been nothing but a warm embrace, nothing but genuine love and nothing but a familiarity of relationships that I can really look to in times of questioning or confusion,’ Irving revealed. 

‘There’s just a positive note there. I’m just taking it one day at a time. That’s all I can do in this life. 

‘What the future holds is really only going to be dictated on what I do right now and how I prepare for those next steps, and that’s being the best teammate that I can be in that locker room and a great leader out here and within the Dallas community and within the NBA. 

‘I’ll just continue to be myself. So I’m just putting that to bed and just focusing on what we have ahead of us as a team.’

Irving and the Mavericks travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Wednesday. 

In Irving’s home debut, he said it would be a disservice to the team to ask about his future