Nets point guard Kyrie Irving is 28 years old that behaves like a 14-year-old.
In the last few years, Irving involved himself in a controversy whether it’s forcing his way out of Cleveland because he couldn’t stand LeBron James or being miserable in Boston because the Boston Celtics managed to go to the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals after he was out for the season with a knee injury or forcing his brethren to not play in the bubble in response to George Floyd’s death or getting Nets coach Kenny Atkinson fired.
Irving knows the criticism he receives. He feels he is misunderstood and he blames the media for portraying him in a negative light. This explains why he won’t speak to the media on Zoom this season. He will make statements through his PR people instead, and that’s if he even will follow up on that.
He doesn’t get it. He never will. He raises more questions about whether he can handle playing with Kevin Durant and the New York market with this latest childish act.
He brings all this on himself by being moody, distant, and aloof. His behavior shows he is so out-of-touch with reality.
By not talking to the media, he makes this worse for himself. He only invites more criticism rather than empathy.
Maybe Nets fans won’t care since they just want him to produce and win games. But if the Nets go through a losing streak or some adversity, the fans should be interested to hear his thoughts on what’s going on and what can he and the Nets do to solve it. The fans would love to know if he shares the same pain and angst with them after a tough loss. They also would love for him to share the joy with him.
Talking to the media means talking to the fans with the beat writers and TV and radio reporters serving as a conduit. It also defines being a professional through good and bad times. It’s what leaders do.
This hurts Irving more than he realizes. It shows he has a poor approach to his job. He made it clear that he does not want to answer anything if the Nets stink or underachieve. He proved that last year by keeping beat writers hanging after games.
Shame on the Nets for being okay with this. Of course, they enable his behavior because they want him engaged, not to mention they don’t want to tick Kevin Durant off to the point of losing him.
This is so wrong. Behaving like this in New York is a quick way to be run out of town fast. Just ask Stephon Marbury, Deron Williams, Roberto Alomar and so many disgruntled athletes that played in this market. There’s no way Irving can get away with this. One would think the Nets and Durant would have a “Come to Jesus” meeting with him about how to approach the media and why he should be talking every game.
If Irving thinks he can get away with it, he is kidding himself. The Nets are doing him a disservice by shielding him.
Outside of Durant, his teammates couldn’t be happy with the Nets point guard’s behavior all of last season. They answered questions for him rather than him facing the media. They shouldn’t be in that position ever being that they are nothing more than role players at best.
Even Durant will be fed up with it if the Nets underachieve at any point this season. He doesn’t want to answer questions for Irving.
The Nets point guard yearns to play basketball and go home. Sorry, but being an NBA star comes with responsibilities and commitments. He plays in a league that promotes stars. Everyone wants to know how he and Durant will mesh together after both came in a package deal to sign with the Nets this past summer.
He can’t escape it. He should embrace it.
Irving can’t change what happened in the past. It’s over and done. All he can do is learn from it and be better for it. After all, people evolve and grow from those experiences, right?
Apparently, Irving expresses no interest in doing that. In his mind, he did nothing wrong.
This tells right there he has no interest in growing up as a nine-year vet at 28 years old.
