Per ESPN<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m standing for freedom,\u201d Irving said. \u201cSo that\u2019s in all facets of my life. There\u2019s nobody that\u2019s enslaving me, there\u2019s nobody that\u2019s telling me what I\u2019m going to do with my life, and that\u2019s just the way I am. If I get tarnished in terms of my image and people try to slander my name continuously, those aren\u2019t things that I forget. I haven\u2019t forgotten anything that anybody said. I don\u2019t read everything, but I definitely read some things that put my family\u2019s name in a certain position that I believe are unfair”.<\/p>\nThe 30-year-old former All-Star got a big ovation from the sold-out crowd — the largest in the facility’s history at 18,166 — after being introduced in the starting lineup. Just before tipoff, he walked to center court and pointed around the arena to acknowledge the reception he got from the Brooklyn fans.<\/p>\n
“Tonight, my presence out there was just bigger than the basketball game,” Irving said. “I was just representing a lot of individuals that are out there in a similar situation as me. And now that I can play, I think we should be opened up for everybody.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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