Kyrie Irving’s therapist says the Mavericks star is stiffing her on hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid bills, according to a new lawsuit.
The suit, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York on Monday, says Irving hired the woman to run a 150-person family retreat in North Dakota this summer, and costs ballooned to nearly $400,000 after the guest list tripled and one attendee unexpectedly died.
The suit says Natasha McCartney provided services including meditation sessions, foot baths, and “intuitive life readings” during the retreat, then after the death, in addition to grief counseling, worked with the police and coroner, and made sure to keep Irving away to avoid any media exposure. The suit says the Mavericks guard has still not paid the $390,710 bill to McCartney, who has worked with the Irving family since 2020.
The suit says Irving told McCartney he would “take care of any costs associated with the program,” but, “despite multiple demands and amicable attempts to resolve the matter, [Irving has] failed to make full payment towards these invoices.”
The Independent first reported the existence of the suit.
McCartney is suing for breach of contract, fraud, and unjust enrichment, and is seeking damages, including the missed payment plus interest costs and legal fees. The retreat took place from June 28 to July 2, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims Irving said the retreat would include 50 to 60 people, then increased that number to 115 about a week before it began, and about 150 people showed up. McCartney filed two invoices related to the event costs of the retreat (each with large markdowns, one described as the “Kyrie Irving discount”) and a third for crisis management and bereavement.
“She provided essential information to ensure that guests were not interrogated by [police], promptly facilitated the removal of Kyrie from the scene to avoid media exposure, and assisted the Coroner with preparations for the family viewing and transportation,” the invoice says. McCartney charged $140,000 for those services.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is McCartney’s company, Elite Mind Solutions.
It describes itself in the suit as “providing mental performance coaching services for athletes and counseling services for children and their families.” McCartney’s name appears throughout supporting documents including workshop materials and invoices to Irving’s company, A11Even Sports, which is also listed as a defendant in the suit.
Attorneys for both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment. McCartney’s attorney, Michael Faragalla, told The Independent, “After making direct contact with Kyrie Irving and his associates, Mr. Irving put it all off on his supporting cast. … Of course, he had an attorney retained, and of course, his manager and his agent got involved and made several insulting offers, but Kyrie Irving himself never personally tried to make amends.”
Irving, 32, signed a three-year, $126 million deal with the Mavericks in June 2023, and he has more than $311 million in career on-court earnings.
