There was reportedly mutual interest between Kyrie Irving and the Los Angeles Lakers before Kyrie opted into the final year of his contract with the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.

Speaking Tuesday on the Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst commented on the situation:

"I know that there are people in the league, and we're not talking about ancillary people, we're talking about high-ranking people, who believe that this is not done. I don't know. Let me just say this about the Lakers. He obviously was very interested in joining the Lakers. The Lakers were very interested in having him."

NBA

Kyrie Irving to opt in: What it means for the Nets and the future of their star point guard

For now, Irving is still a member of the Nets, as he announced Monday that he exercised his $36.5 million option for the 2022-23 campaign. He has until Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET to make it official.

Before Irving opted in, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that he had prepared a list of teams to submit to the Nets in hopes of Brooklyn facilitating a sign-and-trade with one of them.

Wojnarowski added that the only team known to be on the list and reciprocating interest was the Lakers.