The center of the NBA world on Tuesday afternoon was Oakland, California, as the Golden State Warriors celebrated their third championship in four seasons. But as their parade rolled on through the streets of "The Town," a press conference all the way across the country attempted to steal a bit of the spotlight.
Kyrie Irving faced the media on Tuesday afternoon, answering questions on a number of topics, including his future with the Boston Celtics. Oh, in case you were wondering why there was suddenly a Kyrie Irving press conference on Tuesday, it's because he was promoting his new movie, "Uncle Drew."
Talking about his future with the Celtics, Irving, unsurprisingly, said he doesn't plan to sign an extension with the team this summer, which he's eligible to do.
"Contractually, financially, it just doesn't make any sense," Irving said about an extension, adding that the conversation will happen eventually, just not right now.
Kyrie Irving not considering an extension. "Contractually, financially, it just doesn’t make any sense.”
— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) June 12, 2018
Kyrie ready for the daily barrage of future question but said focus is on 18-19 season.
"I’m pretty sure management and I will have a talk, but that talk won’t happen now."
And when you look at the financial situation, it's not hard to see why Irving wouldn't want to sign an extension. As Real GM's Keith Smith points out, Irving signing an extension instead of a new contract next summer would cost him about $80 million.
Let me be among the last to chime in on Kyrie Irving and an extension and why he's not signing one now:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 12, 2018
Extension is 4 years/~$108M + 1 year left at $20M =
Total 5 years/~$128M
Projected new deal in 2019 is 5 years/~$188M + 1 year left at $20M =
Total 6 years/~$208M
The most he could get with a four-year extension signed this summer would be $128 million, while he could bank about $208 million with a new contract next summer. It's hard to even really fathom what you would even do with an extra $80 million, but even that being the case, you shouldn't pass that kind of money up.