Former NBA champion claims Kyrie Irving struggled with Cavaliers coach's 'accountability' approach: "Mike held him accountable"
For a while, after LeBron James left in 2010, the Cleveland Cavaliers were led by 2011 number-one overall pick Kyrie Irving. In Irving's third year with the Cavs, the front office brought in Mike Brown as coach. Brown already had several successful seasons as the Cavs head coach from the 2005-06 to the 2009-10 season.
However, when the Cavs brought him back in the 2013-14 season, the team did not find the same success and he was gone after a year. As it turns out, Brown's coaching style wasn't working with Irving.
Former Cavs player Dion Waiters, who was teammates with Irving in Cleveland, shared this in an interview with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson on Friday.
"Mike (Brown) held him accountable," Waiters said about Irving. "Mike held everybody accountable as he should. I just felt certain guys didn’t like that and you see he’s a good coach and it shows. So you gotta understand that it’s a business, though with your players and how the best players feel about an individual and unfortunately, things don’t work out."
The Cavs traded Dion Waiters to the OKC Thunder midway through the 2014-15 season. He also had a stint with the Miami Heat and then with the LA Lakers in 2020. He was a part of the Lakers squad that won the title in the NBA bubble.
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Kyrie Irving admits to having regrets regarding his relationship with Mike Brown
The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors faced each other for the third straight NBA Finals in 2017. Mike Brown was hired by the Warriors as an assistant that season and was facing off against his former squad.
Ahead of Game 1 of the 2017 Finals, Kyrie Irving was asked about facing off against his former head coach.
Per ESPN, Irving responded by saying that his time under Brown was a "learning experience." He mentioned the fact that he was a young player who was being considered as the Cavs' new leader while Brown was unfamiliar to him.
Irving then admitted that he looks back on that time with regret. He said that Brown was teaching him things that he did not understand at the time on account of his age. Afterward, Irving complimented Brown's coaching prowess.
The Cleveland Cavaliers went 33-49 in 2013-14 with Mike Brown as the coach and Kyrie Irving as the star. That season, Irving averaged 20.8 points, 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He was also named to his second straight All-Star team.
Brown is now the head coach of the Sacramento Kings. In Brown's first year as the Kings' head coach in 2022-23, he led them to their first playoff appearance since 2006.