Kyrie Irving has been one of the NBA’s biggest stars in the last decade. Even if he’s never been an MVP-caliber guard, his electrifying playstyle has earned fans from around the world. His on-court success has been limited in the last 8 years due to issues on every team he’s been on.
Brian Windhorst blamed Kyrie as being responsible for the failure of three superteams in the NBA. This includes the Cavaliers with LeBron James, the Celtics with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and the Nets with Kevin Durant and James Harden.
“[Kyrie Irving] has normalized breaking up super teams. He broke one up in Cleveland, he broke the chance of one up in Boston, and he broke up the biggest flops of a superteam in Brooklyn.”
“[Kyrie Irving] has normalized breaking up super teams. He broke one up in Cleveland, he broke one up in Boston, and he broke up the biggest flop of one in Brooklyn.”
— Brian Windhorst 😂
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/zgFMFuuWIe
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 6, 2024
Even though Windhorst’s criticism of Irving is harsh, especially when the star has kept a low profile on the Mavericks all season. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that Irving can be held majorly responsible for why all three of those teams never reached their potential.
Irving left the Cavaliers as he was entering his prime in 2017, sick of being the little brother to LeBron on the franchise. He wanted to lead his own team and he got that opportunity with the Celtics, but his short-lived tenure peaked with a Conference Finals run that the team made with Irving injured. With Kyrie, the team only made the second round.
Irving left Boston for Brooklyn in controversial fashion, promising Celtics fans that he’d re-sign before joining the Nets with Kevin Durant. The Nets were plagued by injury, but Kyrie voluntarily sat out half a season in 2021-22 due to vaccine mandates in New York. This alienated James Harden and led to him demanding a trade in 2022, and by February 2023, both Irving and Durant had been traded away.
Will Kyrie Irving Right His Wrongs In Dallas?
Irving is no longer on a bonafide contending roster after being traded to the Dallas Mavericks last year. While he and Luka Doncic are arguably the best backcourt in the NBA, the team has major deficiencies across the frontcourt that have made them the No. 8 seed in the West with a 28-23 record. They’re looking better than last year, but they don’t look like title contenders this year.
Irving has been contributing at a high level to the team’s success, but health has eluded him. Irving has played only 29 out of the 51 games the Mavericks have played this season. He’s averaging 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.4 assists, with the team having a 17-12 record when he’s on the floor. He is coming off scoring 59 points in a road back-to-back and led the Mavericks to wins over the 76ers and Nets.
Dallas needs Irving on the court to even have a chance at making the playoffs, but the duo of Doncic and Irving aren’t making a deep playoff run unless frontcourt reinforcements are acquired before the trade deadline. The team is in talks for players like Kyle Kuzma, PJ Washington, Dorian Finney-Smith, Bobby Portis, and Isaiah Stewart, among others.
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