Kyrie Irving: The Most Confusing Player In The NBA

    Now, this post may be slightly biased as I despise Kyrie Irving. He has always been an interesting player in the NBA and in the media. Recently his big news story circles around him deciding not to get the vaccine and the Nets deciding that he will not play until he does. While this may seem normal, he threw the press a curveball when stated in an interview that he is not anti-vaccine. This just infuriated me and many others since once again Kyrie was focused on basketball politics instead of the games. For this blog, I want to analyze his past choices and try to figure out why this great basketball player has had so many issues.

Now early in his career, he expressed his dislike of the media and the spotlight. He even tried to prove how ridiculous the news was by claiming he was a flat earther. Not surprisingly the media went crazy with this statement and to this day people are unsure of his stance. He calmed down with his media antics when Lebron returned to Cleveland. Kyrie was a huge supporting player in Cleveland's chase for a ring, hitting the game-winning three in a game 7 against the 73-9 Warriors team. This was his first and only championship for the Cavaliers. He was expected to be a franchise player but after losing to the Warriors super team in the next finals, he made a huge statement that is the main reason myself and many other NBA fans dislike him. Kyrie claimed that he could be the best player on a championship team and that he didn’t want to be the second option to Lebron. This was his informal way of asking for a trade and this is when his career spiraled out of control.

    Now I would respect his decision if he went on to win a championship for another team but at the end of the day, he proved himself to be a huge hypocrite. So after he made this statement he was traded to the Boston Celtics. While he was the best player on the team and led them to the playoffs, he never won a championship and would eventually leave after two years, even though he promised Boston fans he’d resign. Now I would also respect him signing with another team where he could be the best player but instead he made one of the most hypocritical moves in NBA history. After stating that he could be the best player on a championship team, he and Kevin Durant decided to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. Kevin Durant is currently a top 10 player of all time and was on the Warriors team that beat Kyrie for the championship in 2017. After claiming that he could be the best player on a championship team, Kyrie basically teamed with another Lebron on a better team. Funny thing is, he still hasn’t won another ring without Lebron. So looking back he made a selfish decision and when he couldn’t fulfill his own expectations, he tried to win an easy ring with a stacked team but couldn’t even do that.

Now in his third season, he just downright refuses to play. While the NBA doesn’t have a vaccine mandate, cities mainly decide if their teams need a vaccine to play and unfortunately for Kyrie, New York is very strict on their Covid policies. He still refused to get the vaccine so the Nets decided that he cannot play until he gets one or maybe if New York lifted their mandate. Now people were outraged at this decision and many thought he was an anti-vaxer like shooting guard Bradley Beal. When Kyrie was interviewed by the press he dropped a bombshell stating he didn’t support either side of the debate. He claimed that he just made the decision that felt right for him. Again Kyrie completely shocked the media and I still don’t understand his decision. If I could bet, I'd bet money that he did this to avoid injury and that he will return in the playoffs to try and get a free ring. I honestly think he doesn’t care for the sport of basketball and sees it as a tedious job.

Honestly, I could never predict what's going on in the crazy mind of Kyrie Irving but I will likely continue to dislike his decisions. I have a huge love for basketball and at this time it seems Kyrie doesn’t care for the sport at all. In the past, he’s been very hypocritical and has deliberately tried to throw off the press due to his dislike of them. Kyrie, if you're making over $30 million a year in the greatest basketball league in the world, the media is gonna bother you. At this point, I honestly hope he never picks up a basketball again since he wants to make the sport political when it’s supposed to be entertainment for millions of NBA fans.