Life is funny. And sometimes pretty ironic. After years of living in the larger-than-life shadow of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving decided he didn’t quite like that. So he moved to Boston so he could prove he’s good enough to be a solo act. Until he decided he didn’t quite like that either.
And that’s how ended up in Brooklyn, teaming up with the recuperating Kevin Durant. This decision was reportedly led by Kyrie, who swayed Durant against joining the Knicks. The irony continues here, in that it took a second fiddle player to save the team that was always considered second-best in New York.
Now, Irving is finding his rope of excuses to grow shorter by the day. Outlandish comments his awkward personality were OK, as long as he helped King James bring a title to Cleveland. Until he forced his way out, and destroyed a very promising young core in Boston in the process.
Irving has had every opportunity to assert himself in the situation he’d like to be long-term. This time he must make it count. Coming off the heels of a season where he averaged 23.8 points, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game en route to earning his second All-NBA team nomination, Kyrie showed he still has world-class talent.
However, he’s yet to permanently erase the second-fiddle stigma from his name. A poor performance against the Milwaukee Bucks in last year’s playoffs led to an embarrassing defeat and time to contemplate a change of scenery. This next season while Durant recovers will go a long way towards deciding the legacy Irving will leave behind when it’s all said and done.