Nets star Kyrie Irving has a new role: Doula

In an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Irving described the birth of his son two weeks ago. Irving apparently did it all for his "warrior" wife: "I was the doula, I was the mid-husband, I was playing every role you could think of." 

As unbelievable as it might be that Irving would defy conventional wisdom for health care, this was the couple's second home birth, and he originally intended his daughter's birth to be a water birth as well.

Irving also explained that catching babies was "part of my genetic coding." He added that "seeing the birthing process, there's a different appreciation for women."

Kyrie also spoke on the difficulty of last season, beyond simply his vaccine stance. 

"It was very isolated and lonely," he said, as he had to be away from the team while also rehabbing "by far, the worst ankle injury I've ever had." Irving says he wasn't healthy enough to play, well into the season, but tried to hide it. He regrets missing an opportunity to win a championship with the Nets, and added, "I'm not getting younger...Time is not something I'm a slave to, but it's something I'm aware of."

As far as the controversy that surrounded Irving last year — and seems to often surround him — Kyrie says it's out of his control. 

"That pot of conversation around my name, I don't add anything to it. It boils over, people are up in an uproar on whatever social media platform, but for me, I'm at house with my family." 

Online Kyrie is catching strays. At home, he's just catching babies.