For a total of $119 million, Irving extended his contract with Dallas for another three years.
In response to rumours of a contract extension for Kyrie Irving by the Dallas Mavericks, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith took a strong stance.
Reportedly, Irving will sign a three-year agreement with the Mavs and forego his player option for the 2025-26 season.
If SAS is to be believed, Kai was the victim of lowballing when he accepted a deal that would pay him less each year than his player option would have.
In today’s economy where you got cats getting paid $55, $60 million plus, you couldn’t give this guy at least $43 to $45 million a year? Remember, he was supposed to be getting a player option that would have given him $43 million. So, to me, at $119 million, that is a fraction less than $40 million per. Kyrie Irving deserves more than that. And so it has me looking at ownership because I’m saying, ‘Okay, if this were Mark Cuban, he would’ve had more.” No question about it. He would’ve made that investment,” said Smith.
Kyrie is worth more than $40 million per year
Cuban was the Mavericks’ majority owner from 2000 to 2023, when he sold the team to the Adelson family.
During his tenure, Mark transformed the Mavs from doormats to champions and was known as one of the best owners in the league because he knew how to take care of the people who worked for him and always did what was best for the fans and organization
At least from an outsider’s perspective, the Adelsons are a different story. The new owners parted ways with 25-year-old Luka Doncic in February, trading away a beloved fan favourite and generational talent.
On top of everything else, the new owners raised ticket prices following the trade, claiming “ongoing investments in the team,” so fans felt even worse about losing Luka.
In an offseason move that benefited the franchise, the Mavericks extended Daniel Gafford’s contract by three years and $54 million.
SAS orders Shammgod to depart from DallasÂ
That was hardly the last of Smith’s tirade. Stephen A. encouraged God Shammgod, a former NBA player, to leave Dallas and join the Orlando Magic, whose head coach had been his assistant in Dallas, in light of rumours that the Magic are interested in recruiting God as their player development coach.
Considering that players like Bradley Beal ($53 million) and Lauri Markkanen ($46 million) earn more than Irving, they are now paying him less than $40 million per year.
“I also saw some reports about Orlando being interested in God Shammgod,” added Smith. “He’s an assistant coach in Dallas. I’m advising him on national TV: Leave! Get the hell out of Dallas. That new ownership, and some of the decisions that they’re making to curb cost and what have you, they seem to be more about numbers rather than taking care of the people they need to take care of.”
It’s a no-brainer that Kyrie is worth more than $40 million annually, but Irving may be considering that he won’t be playing most of this season and is still getting paid.
Also, Smith did not factor in what he’s always been talking about, that the Mavs are a championship contender when everybody’s healthy.
Irving has won before and knows too well that stars need to make sacrifices to build a contender.
And if Kyrie isn’t complaining, why should anyone do it for him?
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