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Kyrie Irving
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IMAGO/Brad Penner/IMAGO/USA TODAY Network
The Dallas Mavericks have officially announced the spectacular signing of controversial NBA star Kyrie Irving.
The Texans trade Irving with their leader Luka Doncic.
According to the media, the 30-year-old point guard from the Brooklyn Nets had recently requested a change to another team.
In the future, Irving will play with the number 2 in the Mavericks, including with the German international Maxi Kleber.
The point guard has been playing for the Nets since 2019.
His greatest success was the 2016 championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside LeBron James.
The switch period for trades in the NBA ends next Thursday.
In the trade, which the Brooklyn Nets also communicated, the Mavericks will trade Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and future talent-education draft picks.
In return, the former team of legend Dirk Nowitzki will get Markieff Morris in addition to Irving.
Irving is considered one of the best players in the league, but has been repeatedly criticized off the pitch for his statements and actions in recent years.
Irving disseminated anti-Semitic content
At the end of 2022, Irving had distributed the film »Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America«, which was classified as anti-Semitic, via Twitter.
For this he was not only temporarily suspended by the Nets, but also lost an advertising contract with the sporting goods manufacturer Nike.
He later donated $500,000 to organizations working to end hate and intolerance in society and said, "I reject all forms of hate and oppression and stand strong with communities that are marginalized and impacted every day .«
The Nets had to do without Irving's services for many games during the corona pandemic.
He had waived the vaccination required by the NBA regulations at the time and therefore missed large parts of the preseason.
Still without Irving and the ailing Doncic, the Mavs won 124:111 at Utah Jazz.
The Nets lost 116-124 to the Los Angeles Clippers.
ngo/dpa/sid
