NBA: Kyrie Irving and Dave Portnoy agree to pick up game in ongoing Twitter spat

Kyrie Irving and Dave Portnoy have agreed to play a game of one-on-one basketball in their continued Twitter spat, just days after the Barstool Sports founder criticized the 2016 NBA champion for trying to recruit LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks.

The two have been involved in several feuds since the 2019 offseason, when Irving promised to re-sign for the Boston Celtics – Portnoy’s team – before leaving for the Brooklyn Nets in free agency.

On Friday, Portnoy tweeted about Insider’s strike, associating Irving with it, for some reason: ‘Welp it looks like the king of the scumbags @hblodget is trying to steal from everyday workers again. Ordinarily I’d feel bad for @thisisinsider workers but they are all scumbags over there. They deserved each other. 

‘PS – @KyrieIrving so far so good on the Karma police.’  

Portnoy, 46, was referring to an Irving tweet from their previous conversation online, when the eight-time All-Star said: ‘Make sure you’re taking care of yourself David. You can only run your mouth for so long before Karma catches up. Be well.’

Dave Portnoy continued his beef with Kyrie Irving when mentioning him in a tweet on Friday

Portnoy previously criticized Irving for trying to recruit LeBron James to the Dallas Mavericks 

Portnoy also slammed Irving for leaving the Boston Celtics to sign with the Brooklyn Nets in ’19

In their latest beef from their exchange on Friday, Irving tweeted that he’s ‘here’ for Portnoy if he ever wanted to ‘lace ’em up and play ones’ instead of stirring the pot on Twitter. 

Portnoy replied in a quote tweet, saying he’s up for the challenge. 

The Barstool founder even predicted the matchup’s outcome to be in his favor, as he appears confident to be able to take on one of the NBA’s most skillful players. 

‘I’ll beat you 21-17,’ tweeted Portnoy at Irving. ‘I’ll back you down in the paint 17 times and shoot 4 jumpers right in your face. Name a time and place.  

‘But no healthy scratches. When I say I’m gonna do something I do it.’

Irving seemed up for the task, replying that if the two did hoop, then they’d do it on the courts of Massachusetts – Portnoy’s home state. 

‘How about we do it in SwampScott, Massachusetts or at TD Garden David?’ Irving asked on Twitter. 

‘I want to make sure this 1v1 is on your turf, in your hometown. I’ll bring my A11even Tribe(Army). And after we play, you can take us all around your hometown and we break Bread at your Parents crib.’ 

If the two actually decide to ‘lace ’em up’, then it could end up as a highlight reel for Irving, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Irving, who has yet to reveal where he’ll play next season, joined the Mavs prior to the February trade deadline, following several controversies during his time in the New York borough of Brooklyn that were related to his refusal to get vaccinated and his promotion of film containing anti-Semitic material. He’ll also be turning 32 this season – an age when many fast guards tend to lose speed and athleticism. 

In response to Portnoy’s tweet, Irving challenged the Barstool founder to play him one-on-one

Portnoy said he’s up for the challenge and that he would even predicted beating Irving, 21-17

Irving offered to play in Portnoy’s hometown of Swampscott, Massachusetts or at TD Garden 

The Australia-born American was seen at a recent L.A. Lakers-Denver Nuggets playoff game at Crypto.com Arena, sparking rumors that he could leave Dallas for a reunion with James in Southern California.

But upon hearing the chatter related to his future, Irving took to social media to ask fans and reporters not to draw any conclusions about his courtside Lakers seats,.

‘Stop mentioning me on Twitter,’ Irving said on Instagram. ‘All y’all fan bases. Stop mentioning me right now please. It is still the…Conference Finals…Can you please leave me the f*** out of this.’

Following Irving’s Instagram post, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith responded: ‘If you don’t want us to talk about you as a basketball player, quit, because we’re going to talk about you.’