The NBA news cycle never takes any days off. Not even during the Oscars. And not even when the subject matter is more than a half-year old.
Enter Kyrie Irving’s trade to the Boston Celtics last August.
According to actor Lil Rel Howery, the All-Star point guard found out about the deal while filming the upcoming Uncle Drew movie, and his reaction to the news was one of ecstasy (transcription via SLAM Online’s Alex Squadron:
The dopest moment was when the trade actually went through, he was so happy, man. We was in the middle of a scene. We was shooting a scene, his homeboy comes in and whispers in his ear and he just runs out the — we filming — he just runs out, we was in the club shooting a scene, runs out. So happy. He comes back and everybody’s applauding. And it was a dancing scene, so when you see it and he’s really getting it, that was real life. He was really happy.
Neither Irving’s reaction nor the circumstances of his discovery are particularly surprising. Offseason trades make for different revelations. It’s not in-season. Players aren’t at the practice facility, jetting to their next game or taking a nap before tipoff. They’re fulfilling other obligations—appearances, vacations, family time and, yes, even cinematic responsibilities.
Plus, Irving asked for this trade. He had to know the news could drop as any moment.
What might have been a little disarming is the end destination. Teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks had been mentioned in the news ad nauseam. The Boston Celtics kind of came out of nowhere. They just signed Gordon Hayward and employed their own All-Star floor general in Isaiah Thomas. They weren’t considered to be at the forefront of the negotiations, even though they had the necessary assets. But that wouldn’t ruin the experience for Irving. If anything, it only explains this reaction a little more. He learned the Cavaliers not only granted his request, but sent him to a team built to continue winning upon his arrival.
