Trading for Kyrie Irving was a big risk on the part of the Dallas Mavericks and while the results on the court haven’t been great, Kyrie has been a good presence in their locker room.
Following their big win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Maxi Kleber hailed Kyrie as a great teammate.
“First of all, he’s very experienced, very calm,” Kleber said. “He knows how to talk to people, where to set up people, sees the strengths in players, and knows what he expects them to do. So, that helps really a lot. And then, obviously, like I said, he’s a very, very great teammate. He always has positive spirits, uplifting words, and all that. So, I’m very appreciative to be able to play with him. I think I learn a lot from just his body language. The way he interacts with his teammates. Just a great character guy.”
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There were concerns that Kyrie might cause problems in the locker room as he did for the Brooklyn Nets, but it seems he has been on his best behavior for the Mavericks. Just like Kleber, the rest of his teammates have also only had positive things to say about Irving, who has fit in very well here.
Irving also fired back recently at some of his haters who have termed him as a cancerous presence in the locker room. He said people see him for three hours a day and make assumptions about who is he as a person. Irving has become one of the most polarizing figures in the NBA today, but at the end of the day, all that matters is what his inner circle and teammates think of him and they clearly hold him in high regard.
Kyrie Irving Reveals The Mavericks Had ‘Real Conversations’ Recently
The Mavericks had struggled after trading for Kyrie, despite him putting up some impressive numbers. They had lost nine of their last 12 games leading into their clash with the San Antonio Spurs last week. That was when the team decided to have a meeting where they had some real conversations as per Kyrie.
Irving said he hadn’t had those kinds of direct conversations in all the years he has been in the league and it helped them win their next two games. Irving scored 38 points in their latest win over the Lakers and is now averaging 28.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 6.6 APG, and 1.1 APG as a member of the Mavericks. Luka Doncic is also set to return from injury in the near future and the Mavs will be banking on their star duo to lead them to the playoffs.
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