“We’ve seen teams put up with madness when a guy helps them win” - NBA analyst believes the Nets would’ve catered to Kyrie Irving’s shenanigans if he won something, cites Dennis Rodman as an example

Kyrie Irving wasn’t the first and likely won’t be the last player to cost NBA team games. Since the league started, there have been troublesome players whose teams were willing to put up with them because they were essential to success.

For the past three years, the Brooklyn Nets have afforded “Uncle Drew” every possible leeway he could get away with. In the end, team owner Joe Tsai realized he can’t allow the eccentric point guard the same leash without contributing much in return.

Chris Broussard of "The Odd Couple" podcast said the Nets would have been even more lenient if the team was successful:

“We’ve seen teams put up with madness when a guy helps them win. Dennis Rodman, now, he wasn’t a superstar individual player, he was a spectacular role player, and it got him into the Hall of Fame but he helped the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan win championships, so they put up with his nonsense to a degree.

But if you’re not helping them win? No way!!!”

Dennis Rodman’s troubles weren’t so kindly looked at in San Antonio when he couldn’t move the needle for success. Although “The Worm” had an NBA-leading 17.1 rebounds per contest in two years with the Spurs, he was shipped to the Chicago Bulls.

The Bulls were willing to gamble on their old rival, and it could not have turned out any better. They just had to put up with his antics and eccentric ways. Michael Jordan and the entire franchise learned to cope with Rodman because he was essential to their success.

The Fox Sports analyst gave the numbers to back up his claim of why Irving didn’t do much for the Nets to succeed:

“This year with Kyrie, the Nets were 14-15. Without him, they were 30-23. Over his three years with the franchise, if you include the playoffs, they have won a slightly higher clip without Kyrie than they have with him, so he hadn’t even made a difference.”

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The Brooklyn Nets may have been too late in dealing with Kyrie Irving’s shenanigans

Three tumultuous seasons with Kyrie Irving has the Brooklyn Nets reeling. [NBA.com]

The Brooklyn Nets decided to play hardball with Kyrie Irving by refusing to give him a long-term contract. Joe Tsai finally had enough and didn’t want the “status quo” to continue. By then, the team may have already been too late.

Irving opted into this $36.5 contract and will likely play out the year unless traded. The damage he has caused may have been irreparable already. He was partly the reason why James Harden bolted out of Brooklyn in February and is looking like the cause why Kevin Durant asked for a trade.

The Nets were favored to win the NBA title in each of the years Durant and Irving were healthy. They may now end up as one of the most epic failures in league history. At the core of almost every mistake Brooklyn has made over the last three years was the talented point guard.

Brooklyn desperately wanted Durant in the summer of 2019 and had to include Irving in the equation to lure the all-time great. Tsai and general manager Sean Marks gambled and lost badly.