Nets, Kyrie Irving fined $35,000 each after his 'repeated refusal' to speak with reporters
Kyrie Irving’s issues with reporters, it seems, continue.
The NBA fined both the Brooklyn Nets and Irving $35,000 each on Wednesday over Irving “violating league rules governing media interview access.”
Here’s the release from NBA on fines for Irving, Nets for “violating league rules governing media interview access.” pic.twitter.com/s6s40tva05
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) May 5, 2021
The league said that the fines came after “Irving’s repeated refusal to participate in team postgame media availability,” something that NBA players are required to do.
Irving, 29, has averaged 27 points and 6.3 assists in 49 games for the Nets so far this season, his second with the team.
Irving fined after avoiding reporters earlier this season
This isn’t the first time Irving has been fined over interview access this season.
In December, Irving issued a statement rather than agreeing to speak with reporters so that he could “ensure that my message is conveyed properly.” The plan was apparently to avoid journalists all season.
The NBA then fined him $25,000, though it didn’t slow him down.
“I don’t talk to Pawns,” he wrote on Instagram, in part, after the fine. “My attention is worth more.”
He finally caved days later, however, and addressed reporters while claiming that the “boycott” was just so that he could focus on basketball.
“The focus is on what’s going on in here,” Irving said in December. “And I wanted to make sure that was clear, no distractions, nothing dispelling anything, nothing about going back and forth.”
More from Yahoo Sports:
