Kyrie Irving's Last Cavaliers Tweet Is Pretty Awkward for All, Including NBA 2K18

In all the sound and fury and general astonishment at the blockbuster trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics and Isaiah Thomas the opposite way, to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the two most important protagonists were the quietest of all.

While the Celtics announced the Irving signing on their Twitter account with the message, "Welcome to Boston Kyrie Irving," the All-Star point guard was silent on social media. Irving made no announcement on Instagram, where he has 9.9 million followers.

On Twitter, Irving's last post is a retweet from August 7 that now looks a little awkward: It is an announcement that Irving would be the cover star of the videogame NBA 2K18, in his new Cavaliers uniform, of course.

The tweet in reality is probably a lot more awkward for 2K Games than it is for Irving, who has more pressing issues to be worrying about, like acclimatizing to his new surroundings in Boston. NBA 2K18 has a release date of September 19, giving 2K Games a limited window to scramble for another cover—possibly with Irving in the right uniform.

There's an argument that videogame companies should be prepared for this kind of eventuality, but then, how many people saw Irving being traded within the Eastern Conference, let alone to the Cavaliers' principal rival in the East? Thomas and Irving trading places actually makes a lot of sense but only post-fact, and if basketball's soothsayers couldn't get it right, then 2K Games can't be expected to be Nostradamus either.

All the same, it might be useful for all parties if Irving broke his social media silence to retweet a few Celtics-related posts, to bump that unavoidable slice of awkwardness down the page a little. Thomas is less of a problem, not being the cover star, but 2K also has to change his uniform in the run-up to the game's release. Pity the poor videogames developer when franchises decide to pull off mega-trades.

Newsweek has contacted 2K Games for comment.