“He is Stephon Marbury… Kyrie Irving's got conspiracy theories” – NBA analyst mocks Irving for his unconventional beliefs, says he leads "dumb followers" over the internet
Kyrie Irving, one of the NBA's best players, may be one of the most skilled ball handlers in the history of the game. The problem with Irving lately is that he is making more headlines for his off-the-court behavior than his play on the court.
On the most recent episode of “What’s Wright with Nick Wright,” Wright laid out some of his critiques of Irving and the circus that follows him.
"The Kyrie Irving legend so far outstrips the Kyrie Irving production," Wright said.
Wright feels that Irving has more style than substance. He discussed the fact that Kyrie never received a single MVP vote. He compared Irving to another star point guard who has played with the Nets before.
"He is Stephon Marbury, except Marbury at least had super affordable shoes and was a hero in China," Wright said. "Kyrie Irving's got conspiracy theories and is a hero to some of the dumbest people on the internet."
Irving has lately made more headlines with his conspiracy theories than by being a top tier point guard. That attention has come whether it's him claiming that the “Earth is flat” or liking the social media post-conspiracy theorist who was making false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Who is Stephon Marbury?
Nick Wright’s comparison of Kyrie Irving and Stephon Marbury has more correlations than people may think. Both were highly touted point guards coming out of high school and skilled ballhandlers. Both guards played one year of college basketball in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Marbury was a two-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection in 13 seasons, averaging 19.3 points and 7.6 assists per game. Marbury has never played with the likes of LeBron James, so he doesn’t have the postseason success that Irving has had.
Marbury’s career also had its fair share of controversy. He forced his way out of Minnesota because he wanted to be closer to home and ended up getting traded to the Nets. He got a chance to play for his hometown New York Knicks, and that relationship ended badly. He played for five teams in his career.
Marbury’s career and reputation was rehabilitated by playing China. While playing for the Beijing Ducks, the team won three championships in the Chinese Basketball Association. Marbury became so revered in Beijing that the team erected a life-sized statue of him outside their stadium.
Hopefully for Irving, he won’t have to go across the world to change his image and get back to basketball.