On the court, Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Kyrie Irving doesn’t back down from anyone. The same goes for off the court, where Irving isn’t backing down from his ludicrous claim and belief that the Earth is flat. In fact, Irving is doubling down on his theory. 

Speaking with ESPN’s Arash Markazi on Friday, Irving reiterated his belief that the Earth is flat.

“I think people should do their own research, man,” Irving said. “Hopefully they’ll either back my belief or they’ll throw it in the water. But I think it’s interesting for people to find out on their own.

“I’ve seen a lot of things that my educational system has said that was real that turned out to be completely fake. I don’t mind going against the grain in terms of my thoughts.”

Irving shared the same thoughts about the shape of the Earth with Dan Feldman of NBC Sports:

“No, I don’t believe the Earth is round.”

But how?

“I think about it from just a, not even a scientific way, but the way I travel and how I get around and also the tons and tons of research that supports that theory,” Irving said. “I think you should go look it up. Before I tell you, I think you should go look it up.”

Irving unintentionally hit on one common response his claim. Many say he should know better because, thanks to his basketball talent, he has travelled around the world.

“You’re saying ‘around,’” Irving said.

Irving is definitely going against the grain with his line of thinking, which also includes thoughts about dinosaurs not being accurately depicted.

“They find one bone and they make up 98 percent of it digitally,” Irving said. 

As CBS Sports’ James Herbert said on Twitter, let’s hope that Irving isn’t saying all of this as part of some viral marketing campaign for his upcoming Uncle Drew movie. Because, like the synopsis of the movie, that would be truly terrible.