Ray Allen has expressed his opinion about Kyrie Irving and how he has gone from being one of the most exciting young players in the league to one of the most criticized stars in the association in the past couple of years. The 29-year-old has been the subject of plenty of criticism ever since he left the Cleveland Cavaliers in not-so-good terms. The point guard reportedly didn’t like his role on the team and wasn’t enjoying being the “little brother” to LeBron James and that prompted him to request a trade.
Four years after that moment, Kyrie is part of the Brooklyn Nets after a tumultuous stint with the Boston Celtics that only worsened his image around the league. The 2016 NBA champion isn’t safe from controversy and this season he was also involved in one when he stopped playing with Brooklyn due to “personal reasons” and was spotted partying with his family.
The 2x NBA champion talked with CBS Sports, where he talked about a variety of topics, including the GOAT debate, his clutch 3-pointer in the 2013 NBA Finals, who is the greatest shooter of all time, and more. The sharpshooter also opened up on Kyrie Irving’s image around the league, explaining that the man let the media speculate instead of telling his own story, which has brought him to this point.
“Kyrie has had somewhat of a topsy-turvy relationship with the media and his teammates — what he decides to talk about and what he decides not to talk about,” Allen said. “In order to be a leader, you have to do the unpopular things, but the right things, and you can’t pick and choose when to do them. Once [Kyrie] does those things more consistently, that’s when people will respect his decisions.”
Allen added that Kyrie’s behavior in the past also made things easy for the media to write and say whatever they want about him, starting with the “Kyrie slander” that takes place every once in a while.
“Yes, he’s had issues before in his locker rooms,” Allen said. “So you have to follow what his history has been. Regardless of what it is that [Kyrie] was dealing with, he left you guys to speculate. … If you don’t speak to the media, they’re gonna write their own stories. So give them the time. Be professional. This is part of your job. Players today think the media is out to get them.
“Really, it makes everyone’s job so much easier when you have a cordial relationship with the media where everybody is exchanging information and you understand where a person is coming from. … If he’s just in his intentions, then he has nothing to worry about.”
The point guard is trying to lead his Brooklyn Nets to the promised land alongside Kevin Durant and James Harden and even though they are struggling right now, the Nets are considered big favorites to win it all this season. Having these three on the roster is surely a good thing for them, but they need more to actually succeed this year.
Kyrie has been handling things differently this season but people are waiting to see until he decides to do something questionable to go after him, as they’ve done in the past four years.
