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Several stories started leaking out at the height of the standoff between Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. A few of them are probably part of the reason why the team was adamant not to give him a long-term deal.
One story that’s currently doing the rounds is how Irving treated his teammates the way Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant once did.
Chris Broussard, on "The Odd Couple" podcast, provided an unconfirmed but very intriguing story about Irving.
"I haven’t confirmed them, but I’ve been told by people fairly close to the situation that Kyrie is ruffling teammates, that he’s better than guys, particularly in one-on-one and he lets cats know.
"He’ll like demean guys. One of his heroes, good friends, Kobe Bryant, would go at you like that. Michael Jordan did it."
Broussard added:
"The difference is Jordan delivered championships. Kobe delivered championships. Both of them are the best players on the team.
"Kyrie is not even close to doing that. He’s been a champion with LeBron, and he was great in that series in fairness, but he’s not carrying a team to a title. When you’re not doing that, it rubs people the wrong way when you keep going like that."
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were two of the most determined and driven players in the NBA. As franchise players, they hated missing practices and often played through injuries. Going after folks in practice was a way for them to toughen up their teammates.
It is easy for teammates to understand why players of Jordan and Bryant's stature and accomplishments would be so hard on them. However, that is not the case for Kyrie Irving.
The Brooklyn Nets point guard has missed more games than he played in three seasons with the team.
He went AWOL, left the team for personal matters without prior notice and practically torpedoed their campaign last season.
Kyrie Irving’s success has been very limited without LeBron James
Kyrie Irving couldn’t carry the Cleveland Cavaliers to the playoffs after LeBron James left the team. Only when the Akron, Ohio, native returned to Cleveland did the Cavaliers barge into the postseason.
As impressive as Irving played in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not win anything without James. Remove the four-time MVP from that roster, and Irving’s likely not leading them past the first round of the playoffs.
The enigmatic point guard wanted to be a franchise player and asked to be traded to the Boston Celtics, who were already perennial playoff participants. He couldn’t even move the needle for Boston.
Irving promised to stay but eventually left the team hanging to join Kevin Durant in Brooklyn.
In three years, the Nets only won one playoff series and were bounced out of the first round in the other two.
Kyrie Irving, along with LeBron James, touts a 132-51 record, which hideously plummets to 201-224 without the G.O.A.T candidate. Irving is 39-13 in the postseason with James and is only 11-11 without him.
The embattled point guard may need to attach himself to the LA Lakers superstar to have better success in the NBA. He’s reportedly set to do so as soon as possible.
Guess the Lakers players!
