Lakers: Nets Head Coach Speaks Out On Kyrie Irving Trade Demand, Availability
Last night, All-Star Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving set the NBA world on its ear when news broke that he had demanded to be traded away from the 32-20 club. Your Los Angeles Lakers quickly emerged as one of the teams most interested in his services.
“There’s a business side to this thing and there’s a human side to this thing,” Vaughn said, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I elected to touch on the human side and check on him as an individual. I’ll leave the business side to [team president] Sean [Marks] and that group.”
Per Lewis, Vaughn told the players who hadn't demanded a trade out of Brooklyn to stay focused on the task at hand: winning ball games with the players in front of them.
“I said to them, we’re not gonna make this weird,” Vaughn revealed. We’re here to play, we’re here to do a job, show up and do your job. I said you’ve done the first step of this thing … let’s do the work to get a win tonight.”
Nick Friedell of ESPN reports that the Nets allowed Irving to step away from the team after his trade demand was made public Friday. Accordingly, the eight-time All-Star sat out tonight's 125-123 comeback win against the Washington Wizards. Vaughn is treating Irving's availability for future games as day-to-day.
