Kyrie Irving has been the major talking point during this offseason after he surprisingly requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The point guard is keen to depart Ohio in search of pastures new and ideally wants to be the star player and face of a franchise. The deterioration of his relationship with LeBron James has been cited as another major reason behind his decision to seek a trade. Kyrie is believed to be unwilling to continue playing with LBJ and it has left the Cavs in a difficult situation. The four-time All-Star still has two years remaining on his contract in Cleveland and therefore any decision on his future will be carefully considered by the team as they are not under any pressure to rush into a deal. The Cavs top brass will certainly hope that time will heal all and that Irving and James can work things out and take to the court in an attempt to avenge their Finals defeat to the Golden State Warriors last season.Despite requesting the trade, Kyrie is looking calm and relaxed this summer and has recently unveiled an interesting new look. We have become accustomed to seeing the 25-year-old sport a beard for almost his entire career, but the silky ball handler has now become completely unrecognisable after deciding to shave it off.This is what Irving looks like now:
Of course, it didn't take long for the images of Kyrie's new look to surface on social media and it's fair to say he got a bit of a roasting as he looks like a completely different person.
Typically, when most people shave, they tend to look younger but the Cavaliers star was roasted for looking much older.
He may be on the lookout for a new team but fans are keen to see him grow the beard back and return to the old version of himself.
The reaction will not come as a surprise to Kyrie, though, as he anticipated exactly what was coming.
He took to his Snapchat account to instruct people to get their jokes ready and out of the way and accepted that he'll be the butt of many of them over the coming weeks.
The superstar is willing to be a good sport about it as he admitted " if it was anybody else, I'd be firing jokes at them".
Well, the fans have reacted just like he thought they would and he'll have to take it on the chin for a few more weeks.