“I don’t f**king care”: Kyrie Irving gets brutally honest on GOAT debates, shreds its validity in basketball

Kyrie Irving’s name has come up in many barber shop debates on the greatest NBA players of all time. But, if it were up to Irving himself, the title of GOAT would not be as important as fans make it out to be.

In a recent livestream, the Dallas Mavericks star weighed in on the prominence of GOAT debates, saying that he finds little value in this type of discussion.

“Y’all are arguing over who’s the goat. I don’t f**king care,” Irving said on the stream. “I don’t care who the GOAT is…because basketball is bigger than the GOAT. Even the GOATs of basketball will tell you that.”

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Notably, Irving spent three seasons playing alongside LeBron James, one of basketball's all-time greats who frequently gets mentioned in GOAT debates. While fans and analysts alike have gone back and forth on whether LBJ or Michael Jordan is the greatest hooper in history, Irving apparently has no interest in joining that conversation.

In the days and weeks leading up to Irving's comments, more sports personalities have chimed in on the GOAT discussion. For one, this year's second overall pick Dylan Harper told writer Brandon Robinson that James was the GOAT in his opinion. Meanwhile, on "The Big Podcast With Shaquille O'Neal," iconic boxer Mike Tyson picked Jordan as the greatest of all time.

Clearly, Irving's take won't be enough to keep basketball enthusiasts from engaging in GOAT debates. The Mavericks guard, however, isn't likely to offer his take on this subject any time soon.

"It shocked me": Kyrie Irving opens up on former Nets teammate's request for trade

Elsewhere in the livestream, Irving got candid on his reaction to former teammate James Harden requesting a trade out of Brooklyn in 2022.

"It shocked a lot of people. It shocked me," Irving said. "S*** I was talking to James one day and I'm like, s*** bro, we about to go win these championships. It was like a day later, [he] asked for a trade."

Irving added that, since then, he'd already had a conversation with Harden and that he "understood completely" the former MVP's request for a trade.

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About the author

Simoun Victor Redoblado

Simoun Victor Redoblado is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with over 12 years of experience writing for publications such as Collider, ALL-STAR Magazine, and Sir Charles in Charge.

Simoun has a bachelor's degree in Secondary Education, Major in English and Minor in journalism. Thanks to the journalism courses that he took, Simoun understood the fundamentals of journalistic storytelling in the context of sports writing.

Passionate for the UP Fighting Maroons, Simoun is a fan of the NBA, PBA, UAAP, and FIBA.
His childhood team was the Chicago Bulls and Simoun was a longtime supporter of the Houston Rockets because his friends would say he looked like Yao Ming.

Simoun loves the systematic, tactical movement of the ball and the players, the stories behind each individual competing on the hardcourt and most of all, how basketball is a sport for life and all its struggles and lessons.

A father of two, Simoun spends his free time with his kids.

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