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Although Kyrie Irving remains among the most controversial players in the NBA, he has been showered with good fortune lately. His stepmother and agent Shetellia Riley Irving posted an emotional message to the Dallas Mavericks guard on Instagram.
“I am so proud of my {love},” she wrote Thursday afternoon. “When I first met you at 8, your brown eyes peering up at me as you said, ‘I would make a great mother,' I had no idea what that journey would involve. First, I would like to thank God for always directing our path and always being the way, the truth and the light. This has been a journey of love and I have to take a moment to just say ‘GOD IS GOOD.”'
Riley Irving was hired as the 31-year-old's agent in 2022 and became the first black woman to successfully negotiate an NBA contract this summer when her stepson signed a three-year deal worth $126 million to return to Dallas. The dollar signs kept rolling in for the duo following the news that the eight-time All-Star has landed a five-year sneaker contract with China-based Atna Sports earlier this week.
That deal will only make the ire many people feel for him grow much stronger. However, it is still a surprise comeback in the sports brand world for the 2017 NBA champion, who lost his lucrative arrangement with Nike after promoting an anti-Semitic film in late-2022. The recent financial victories will not cleanse Kyrie Irving of his past, but his reputation in the public eye clearly appears to be on the mend.
Riley Irving was also sure to emphasize the community that has backed both her and Irving during all of the backlash and drama.
“I want to thank our community, the ones we intimately know and the ones we’ve never met,” she posted. “YOU have been a community of prayer warriors who let your voice be heard, were willing to stand and challenge the negativity, and stood as a “fence” on this journey.”