Kyrie Irving found himself embroiled in a fair few controversies during his time with the Brooklyn Nets. Irving was viewed as a ticking time bomb of sorts as a result, but his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks has been headache-free thus far. Irving recently told reporters that he had enough of the narratives that were floating around about him.
“I think if you look at some of the guys on our team, we’ve dealt with a lot of naysayers, a lot of critics, and a lot of noise," Irving said. “Just like other teams, but I think specifically with us. Somehow I was called a chaos agent for a little bit. And there was this narrative that I’m a locker room cancer.
"All these things that ended up becoming just these run-a-show media pundits," Irving continued. "I didn’t want to be the butt of anyone’s joke. I don’t mind being the butt of anyone’s joke, but not at the expense or consequence of my teammates success and our success as an organization.
"I've just taken a lot of hits, learned how to hit back, learned how to protect myself, learned how to protect my brothers and my sisters and keep the main thing the main thing," Irving concluded.
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The whole circus that surrounded Kyrie, at one point, certainly wasn't ideal for his teammates and was not helping the team as a whole either. It was why some felt the Mavericks were taking a huge risk by trading for the eight-time All-Star in 2023.
It could have ended up being a disastrous move, but Irving has been a bit of a model citizen since arriving in Dallas. The 32-year-old has stayed out of any kind of trouble and the only conversations about him have been on his play on the court, where he averaged 25.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in this 2023-24 campaign.
The first half of the season wasn't great for Irving, as he missed some time due to injury, but he stayed relatively healthy in the second half. With their star guard fit and firing, the Mavericks soared. They won 16 out of 18 games from March 7 to April 10 to finish fifth in the standings in the Western Conference with a 50-32 record.
Luka Doncic Spoke On Having Kyrie Irving As A Teammate
Going back to when the Mavericks acquired Irving, there was talk that it would accelerate Luka Doncic's departure from Dallas. That certainly doesn't seem to be the case now and Doncic said it has been a blessing to have Kyrie as a teammate.
"Having Kyrie here has been a blessing," Doncic said. "I always say, on the court, everybody knows what kind of player he is. Just off the court, he helps me a lot, not just me (but also) the whole team. He knows how to win the championship. He's a very humble guy. Great guy. On the court and off the court, it's just been a blessing to be with him."
For Doncic to speak so glowingly of Irving shows just how great of an influence he has been on and off the court for the Mavericks. The Slovenian will also be hoping that his co-star can help him finally get past the Los Angeles Clippers, who they will face in the first round of the playoffs.
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