The last year of Kyrie
Speaking of which…to the best of my knowledge, Black Israelites and anti-vaxers haven’t protested outside of other NBA arenas in the past year, and certainly not in support of the same one player for both causes.
Whatever Kyrie’s moral character may be, the indisputable facts are: 1) he’s a distraction, and 2) the team actually has a slightly better record without him the past three+ years than with him.
Had he signed an extension in the summer 2021 or 2022, he’d be a long-term distraction, but as it stands, with reports that he hasn’t spoken to GM Sean Marks, it’s impossible to imagine him on the roster next season.
Whatever the team’s record in the years to come (with only Ben Simmons and some rookie-scale players as probable roster pieces,) the vibes should at least be better.