It’s rare to see Kyrie Irving lose his cool on the court. Known to be a calm-headed individual in intense situations; when Kai’s temper flares, it makes people wonder what made him so livid. Yesterday, he had an altercation with a few OKC players which begged the same question.
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Recently, the audio from his altercation was deciphered and posted on X, which details everything that was said among the players. Kyrie was heard hurling expletives on the floor, which also goes against his personality.
The verbal spat started with a play when Jaylin Williams drove to the basket. P.J. Washington made contact with him and Williams fell on the floor to draw a foul. That’s when things escalated as Alex Caruso jumped in to protect his teammate, shoving Washington in the process. This made Kyrie confront him and he said, “Bro, stop with that extra sh*t. What are you doing, bro?”
Soon, they were surrounded by players from both sides. Despite being aggressive toward the opposition, Kyrie had a problem with the Thunder players pushing him and his teammates. After Caruso tried to explain to him that he had to “stand up” for his teammate, he responded, “Why are y’all pushing us, bro? Stop f***in’ pushing us.”
LEAKED Audio Of Kyrie Irving Trash Talking Alex Caruso & Isaiah Joe👀:
Kyrie: “Bro, stop with all that extra sh*t”
Joe: “Back the f*ck up”
Kyrie: “You’re not tough like that, n****”
Caruso: “Kai, I gotta stand up for my guy”
Kyrie: “Stop f*cking pushing us” pic.twitter.com/MUm84IdLEg
— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) January 18, 2025
The game ended 106-98 for the Dallas Mavericks and Kyrie got his revenge on the OKC, making it the second time this season they’ve beaten them. He carried the team in Luka Doncic’s absence with a 25-point performance. He also had five assists and five rebounds in 39 minutes. The Mavs were able to build momentum in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 41-17 and that allowed them to control the outcome of the game until the final buzzer.
Kyrie Irving believes the Mavs-Thunder rivalry is “healthy”
This season we are witnessing a new rivalry taking shape between the Mavs and the Thunder. They faced off against one another in last year’s Playoffs that also provided fans with a few testy moments between the squads.
Fast-forward to present day and those testy moments have carried into this year as well. When Kyrie was asked about his new rivals during the post-game press conference, he had some nice things to say about his rivals.
He said, “It’s personal. I think it’s the start of a healthy rivalry…We’re gonna be seeing them a lot over the next few years so it’s good that you set the precedent now what it’s gonna be like.” Kyrie said that even though it’s just “good competitive NBA basketball” his team will always protect each other.
Kyrie Irving on the Mavs-Thunder rivalry:
“It’s personal. I think it’s the start of a healthy rivalry…We’re gonna be seeing them a lot over the next few years so it’s good that you set the precedent now what it’s gonna be like…When the pushing and shoving occurs, that’s just… pic.twitter.com/Lp7ow3ftiK
— Noah Weber (@noahweber00) January 18, 2025
“Somebody comes into the middle of the circle, starts pushing, you know it’s gonna lead to everybody protecting themselves. It’s good. It’s healthy,” he added.
With how exciting each Mavs-Thunder matchup has been, from both a competitive and storyline perspective, fans should hope to see these two Western Conference behemoths face off once more in the postseason sooner rather than later.