Kyrie Irving has been vocal about his time in Brooklyn since the Nets traded him to the Dallas Mavericks two weeks ago. That trend continued at All-Star Media Day. Irving spoke on his tumultuous stint with the franchise, saying he holds “no regrets” with his Nets tenure in the rearview mirror.

“I'm grateful to all the people I met throughout the whole entire organization. But I have no regrets,” Irving said Saturday. “I had a plan in place where I wanted to stay in Brooklyn long term, be a Net. It was a dream come true for me. Obviously, I wish things could have worked out for the best of all of us in terms of winning a championship and etching our names into the history of the NBA. Those are big aspirations. It sounds easier said than done. But I had an incredible four years.”

After signing with the Nets in 2019, Irving's Brooklyn tenure was marred by off-court controversy and unavailability. The guard played in just 143 of 270 regular-season games during his three-and-a-half seasons with the team. Amazingly, Irving never played more than 12 consecutive games for Brooklyn.

Some of those absences were due to injury, but a large chunk can be attributed to off-court developments. Irving missed two extended stretches during the 2020-21 season due to personal reasons. He then missed over half of the 2021-22 campaign while refusing to comply with New York's COVID-19 workplace vaccine mandate.

The team struggled with Irving unavailable for large stretches last season, eventually leading James Harden to force a trade at the deadline. Brooklyn was eventually swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. Following the disappointing season in which sources described the mood behind the scenes as “miserable,” Irving said he planned to “manage the franchise” alongside Kevin Durant and Brooklyn's front office moving forward.

“When I say I’m here with Kev, I think that it really entails us managing this franchise together alongside Joe [Tsai, the owner] and Sean [Marks, the GM] and just our group of family members that we have in our locker room and our organization,” Kyrie Irving said.

The comment was met with criticism following Irving's unavailability during the disastrous season. Nets general manager Sean Marks later said the team needs players who are “selfless” and “want to be part of something bigger than themselves,” a comment many saw as a shot toward Irving.

The eight-time All-Star cleared the air on the back and forth Saturday.

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“After the season when I actually said that quote, we had a conversation. Me, Sean, Joe, upper management, and the front office,” Irving said. “I was just telling them that I would love to have more of a shared responsibility if we’re gonna be building a future here.

“They gave me all the right answers. Yes, yes, yes. The moment it comes out in the media it’s like, ‘Who does this guy think he is? He's gonna be in the front office?’ That’s not the angle I came from. I just wanted to bring in great guys. I know cohesion. I know about winning games. But in this next phase of my career, it’s about leading and also following with the right guys around me.”

Following Irving's vaccine holdout, Brooklyn refused to offer the guard a fully guaranteed long-term contract, leading him to opt into the final year of his deal. Despite the Nets suspending Irving early this year for social media posts linking to an antisemitic film, he once again voiced his desire to remain in Brooklyn for the long haul. However, the team again offered a partially guaranteed contract with incentives, leading Irving to request a trade.

Irving will play out the remainder of the season alongside Luka Doncic in Dallas. Reports say the Mavericks have not offered the guard a long-term contract. The former No. 1 pick said earlier this week that he won't answer questions about his future in Dallas, saying the subject is “very draining” and provides “unwanted distractions” for his teammates.

Following the trades of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Nets move forward with a core that includes Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie, Ben Simmons, and Cam Thomas, among others, as well as a replenished stock of draft picks.