Kyrie Irving revealed he has spoken to his Brooklyn Nets' teammates about comments in which he listed the players he saw as being a part of the franchise's future.
"I reached out to make sure nothing was taken out of context -- making sure that the guys knew exactly what I meant," Irving said on Friday after practice. "And that is the only thing that matters. Everyone can say, if I was in this position, 'I would've said this, I would've done this.' They have have no idea because they've never been at this level, so how could you even comment on it?"
He continued: "The most important thing is making sure these guys -- they have the belief in themselves and I continue to reiterate that confidence we have as a team. It is going to come down to that in order to be at a championship level to compete against the West, we need more. It is what it is."
On Wednesday, Irving told reporters that he felt it was "glaring" that the Nets "need one or two more pieces to complement" himself, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Garrett Temple, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert.
Irving most notably omitted Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris and Taurean Prince.
Irving also said he is not imploring the Nets to make any major moves before the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
"I think when we have championship aspirations," Irving said. "Do we want to be the eighth seed going into the playoffs? The seventh seed? But you're able to be real with the team that you have here and you're able to collectively, cohesively come together as a group. That is what you figure out. But the goals are still to win a championship. I don't come in every day to frickin' be mediocre or to be in the middle of the standings."