“The difference is Jordan delivered championships … Kyrie is not even close to doing that” - Chris Broussard on Kyrie Irving ruffling his teammates and demeaning them like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant did
Several stories started leaking out at the height of the standoff between Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. A few of them are probably part of the reason why the team was adamant not to give him a long-term deal.
One story that’s currently doing the rounds is how Irving treated his teammates the way Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant once did.
Chris Broussard, on "The Odd Couple" podcast, provided an unconfirmed but very intriguing story about Irving.
"I haven’t confirmed them, but I’ve been told by people fairly close to the situation that Kyrie is ruffling teammates, that he’s better than guys, particularly in one-on-one and he lets cats know.
"He’ll like demean guys. One of his heroes, good friends, Kobe Bryant, would go at you like that. Michael Jordan did it."
Demanding excellence from others is easy work.
Developing excellence in others is hard work.
Champions are not born. Champions are made during practice.
Michael Jordan during a Bull’s practice in 1999. @RexChapman https://t.co/3JRUx1OYQo
Broussard added:
"The difference is Jordan delivered championships. Kobe delivered championships. Both of them are the best players on the team.
"Kyrie is not even close to doing that. He’s been a champion with LeBron, and he was great in that series in fairness, but he’s not carrying a team to a title. When you’re not doing that, it rubs people the wrong way when you keep going like that."
Dwyane Wade speaks on Kobe Bryant’s unmatched tenacity, even going hard in practice.
“He not about the scoring and highlights, he’s about the dirty work.” https://t.co/FG4M05s5bi
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were two of the most determined and driven players in the NBA. As franchise players, they hated missing practices and often played through injuries. Going after folks in practice was a way for them to toughen up their teammates.
It is easy for teammates to understand why players of Jordan and Bryant's stature and accomplishments would be so hard on them. However, that is not the case for Kyrie Irving.
tried to get players NOT to play in the bubbleKyrie Irving in the last 12 months:
✅ tried to get players NOT to play in the bubble
✅ 2 weeks AWOL from Nets
✅ starts burning sage in areas
✅ Takes games off for his bday
✅ 1st career ejection after scrap w/ Schroder over n-word
✅ Out tomorrow, says, “personal reasons” https://t.co/elnisxdlWa
The Brooklyn Nets point guard has missed more games than he played in three seasons with the team.
He went AWOL, left the team for personal matters without prior notice and practically torpedoed their campaign last season.
Kyrie Irving’s success has been very limited without LeBron James
Kyrie Irving couldn’t carry the Cleveland Cavaliers to the playoffs after LeBron James left the team. Only when the Akron, Ohio, native returned to Cleveland did the Cavaliers barge into the postseason.
As impressive as Irving played in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not win anything without James. Remove the four-time MVP from that roster, and Irving’s likely not leading them past the first round of the playoffs.
Kyrie Irving's record with/without LeBron James:
WITH WITHOUT
Regular season 132-51 204-224
Playoffs 39-13 11-11 https://t.co/rhBCiQvPK4
The enigmatic point guard wanted to be a franchise player and asked to be traded to the Boston Celtics, who were already perennial playoff participants. He couldn’t even move the needle for Boston.
Irving promised to stay but eventually left the team hanging to join Kevin Durant in Brooklyn.
All we got was one playoffs series win out of this 😂😩
#kevindurant #KyrieIrving https://t.co/PPytuEJxm9
In three years, the Nets only won one playoff series and were bounced out of the first round in the other two.
Kyrie Irving, along with LeBron James, touts a 132-51 record, which hideously plummets to 201-224 without the G.O.A.T candidate. Irving is 39-13 in the postseason with James and is only 11-11 without him.
"Kyrie Irving is telling everybody he plans on going to LA, meaning the Lakers as soon as he possibly can."
—@stephenasmith https://t.co/PTUircwl44
The embattled point guard may need to attach himself to the LA Lakers superstar to have better success in the NBA. He’s reportedly set to do so as soon as possible.