"That's his greatest success": Andrew Schulz argues that LeBron James has benefited immensely from Kyrie Irving's villain narrative
Dallas Mavericks star point guard Kyrie Irving has garnered a reputation as one of the most controversial figures in the NBA in recent years. This stems from a combination of Irving’s mercurial personality and strong personal stances on sensitive cultural issues.
All of this has led Irving to become one of the league’s premier “villains” among fans. However, according to comedian Andrew Schulz, Irving’s controversial behavior has benefitted some, including his former Cleveland Cavaliers co-star, LeBron James.
During a recent episode of his “Flagrant” podcast with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, Schulz spoke about Irving’s ever-developing villain arc. Schulz said that, to him, the star point guard becoming one of the most hated players in the NBA is James’ greatest success:
“Kyrie’s villain arc, to me, is LeBron’s greatest success,” Schulz said.
Portnoy then agreed, saying that he was a big fan of Irving before seeing how he acted while playing for his hometown Boston Celtics:
“Yeah, seriously. I always hated LeBron, so I was actually pro-Kyrie before he came to Boston,” Portnoy said.
“I was like, ‘Kyrie’s the one you want, he’s the one who hit the shot, not you.’ … The thing that drives me nuts most about Kyrie is he has this habit of talking about stuff and creating a story. … Then he will be like, ‘Why are you asking me about that?’”
(1:37:45 mark below.)
Irving and James didn’t always see eye-to-eye during their three seasons together from 2014 to 2017, despite winning the 2016 NBA title. Many fans sided with Irving at the time, given James’ reputation for being sometimes overbearing. When Irving was traded to Boston in 2017, it appeared that he just wanted a fresh start away from James’ shadow. However, Irving has since had tumultuous stops in both Boston and Brooklyn. This, in turn, has led many fans to conclude that James was not at fault for his relationship with Irving souring in Cleveland.
In retrospect, most would now agree that James being able to win a title alongside the enigmatic Irving looks more and more impressive by the year. This is especially true considering that Irving hasn’t even come close to replicating the playoff success that he experienced alongside James since leaving Cleveland.
Also read: "Certified team killer": Barstool Sports' fame Dave Portnoy blasts Kyrie Irving after planned one-on-one fails to materialize
Andrew Schulz says that Kyrie Irving may be too smart for his own good
During his podcast discussion about Kyrie Irving, Andrew Schulz added that Irving is one of the smartest, most gifted basketball players of all time. However, Schulz said that the biggest downside to the star point guard's genius is that he may be too smart for his own good.
According to Schulz, Irving’s tendency to overthink is likely the reason why he is such a controversial figure:
“He is a genius with a basketball,” Schulz said.
“Just one-on-one, maybe we've never seen anything like it. … If you just ask any basketball player, just off offensive game, they're going to point at Kyrie in terms of skill. … So, maybe to be such an outside-the-box thinker, to create that game, and think about the game in that way, the baggage of that is also to think about life in that way.”
(1:36:35 mark below.)
Given that Kyrie Irving is already 31 years old, at this point, it seems unlikely that he’s going to change his way of thinking anytime soon. So, Dallas, or whichever team rosters Irving is in the future, will likely have to continue dealing with both the positive and negative aspects of the star point guard.
Also read: "I think he may be nuts": Dave Portnoy gets bizarre late-night texts from Kyrie Irving filled with lengthy musings about solving world problems