Wrong or right, Spencer Dinwiddie received a lot of credit for Kyrie Irving signing with the Nets over the summer. But Dinwiddie says he was always more friend than recruiter to Irving through the process.
"We talk about life, we talk about basketball, we talk about situations and cities and stuff like that," Dinwiddie told WFAN's Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on Friday. "So people like to make it seem like I was one of those college recruiters and delivering a FedEx package of money or something like that. It wasn't like that. It was two friends talking and explaining on my end why I love Brooklyn and (coach) Kenny (Atkinson) and (general manager) Sean (Marks) so much. And eventually he made his own decision. He's his own man, and he chose what was best for him. I'm just happy that it was here."
The addition of Irving made point guard D'Angelo Russell expendable. Dinwiddie said he doesn't feel guilty about his full-throated endorsement of Brooklyn to Irving leading to Russell being traded to Golden State.
"At the end of the day, these aren't my decisions," Dinwiddie said. "The business of basketball plays out above the players most of the time, right? So it's not like I could go into the owner's office or Sean's office and say, 'Hey, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.' Like that's far above my pay grade.
"It very much could've meant that I was gone," the Nets guard added. "It could've meant that both of them stayed and then they did something else with the team if (Kevin) Durant doesn't come or something like that. You never know. All I can do is give my honest opinion on his (Irving's) thoughts."
Dinwiddie also discussed how he's using his three-year, $34.36 million contract as an investment vehicle. Investors in his contract can get a bigger return if Dinwiddie opts out of his $12.3 million option for the 2021-22 season and then signs a new contract worth more.
Dinwiddie, meanwhile, gives up some of his future income for a smaller lump-sum payment, but he acquires more money immediately that he can invest.
"Long story short: Yeah, it is pretty much just investment in your favorite player in a sense," he explained. "Every different project's going to be different. Mine has a guaranteed floor and obviously appreciation due to my player option and some other things. So if I play well, we all benefit. And it's just a way to kind of bring the fan and the player a little bit closer together, have some more real fan engagement."
Dinwiddie said the minimum investment was set at $150,000 to ensure clearance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but he hopes to eventually allow people to invest as little as $1.
"Literally it could be your child's Christmas present, if that's what you wanted to do," he said.
To listen to the interview, click on the audio player above.
