3 times when Kyrie Irving caused problems for his teammates in the NBA with his attitude

#2 Boston Celtics

Kyrie Irving got his wish as he had the opportunity to lead the Boston Celtics as their number one option

Kyrie Irving got his wish to be the focal point of his team in August 2017 as he was traded to a young Boston Celtics that needed veteran leadership to get them past the playoff hump. The Celtics were loaded with young stars such as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and Kyrie's arrival was taken as a sign of the great things to come for the C's.

His tenure as a Celtics player began brightly as he seemed to have elevated his game with a couple of astonishing performances, like his season 47-point game in an overtime game against the Dallas Mavericks. Kyrie unfortunately missed out on the postseason due to a couple of procedures that had a recovery time of four to five months. Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum led the charge in his absence as the Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James.

Big things were expected of the Celtics once Irving and Gordon Hayward returned but unfortunately things took a different turn. Kyrie personally had a decent season, averaging 23.8 points and 6.9 assists, but he struggled to be the leader that he always sought to be and failed miserably trying to lead a young Celtics core.

Kyrie often took shots at young Celtics stars such as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum with the intention of encouraging them to up their performance. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect as they had slumps in their performance.

This led to a frustrated Kyrie even going to the extent of apologizing to LeBron for being unable to understand his leadership methods due to being a young hungry star. It was great that he was trying to rectify his past errors but doing that on a public platform at the wrong time looked like he was throwing his young teammates under the bus.

The Celtics had their best performance and reached the Eastern Conference Finals when Kyrie was injured, which says a lot about his failed leadership. Luckily for both the Celtics and Kyrie, the drama did not last long as he signed as a free-agent with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2019-20 season.

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#1 Brooklyn Nets

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden

The Brooklyn Nets hope that Kyrie will change his mind and get the vaccine as they have a chance of creating history with their big three. Irving's refusal to get the vaccine not only affects him but also his teammates as he will not be allowed to practice with them or play in home games, which is basically half of the season. The Nets have a roster deep enough to sustain without Kyrie during the regular season, but they will need their All-Star guard to come out all guns blazing during the post-season as they go up against stiff competition.

An injury to either James Harden or Kevin Durant will complicate things further, leaving Brooklyn severely handicapped. Hence, it is imperative for the organization and his teammates to convince Kyrie to get the vaccine irrespective of how vehement he is in his stance or distrust. He can take the example of former teammate LeBron James, who was himself critical of taking the vaccine before acquiring the right information and doing so. Andrew Wiggins is yet another example of a star who was vehemently opposed to getting the vaccine before gaining the right information and getting it done to become available to the Warriors.

What Kyrie has to realize is that this time around it isn't about his beliefs or his views but rather about the safety of him and the people surrounding him, while also being available for his teammates who have sacrificed a lot to get to an NBA championship. James Harden still has not signed his contract extension and could decide to become a free-agent in a shocking move due to Irving's stubbornness. It is only a matter of time before his supportive teammates get frustrated with him and his behavior, leading to neither side benefiting from the situation.