Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is now on his fourth team.
Getting his start with the Cleveland Cavaliers, trades to the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, and Mavs have been completed with increasingly rapid succession. At first, the kismet of his career appeared to be in his control. Irving’s spiraled since then, going down a rabbit hole that’s led him to the other side of the world.
Kyrie Irving’s Personal Growth Leads to Familiar Tale
Irving’s since come around though. In fact, although he hasn’t had as much postseason success as he did with the Cavs, the eight-time All-Star believes his personal growth has taken him to the zenith of his career.
“This has been the greatest … portion of my career,” Irving says, per Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill. “To be able to now give wisdom and also speak from a place of experience. When you’re a young person, again, you’re trying to speed through life, you’re trying to get through everything.”
Irving’s off-court maturation has become a major storyline this season.
Though he’s always been well-intentioned, he’s lost mounds of fans with his hubris. He’s even alienated former teammates. The three and a half seasons with the Nets were a low-point in his career. His philanthropy was overshadowed by his callousness. His free-spirited personality was miscast as ignorant.
Now, he’s the good guy again.
His self-ratiocination has been his lighthouse. His talent isn’t being undermined by his outspokenness. The outrageous opinions that grabbed storylines have been replaced by those about his locker room leadership. He’s even been more pleasant in his interactions with the media.
Things could change, but it sounds as if he found a home.
What Happens From Here?
For those that believe Irving will turn heel, he doesn’t sound like he’ll be leaving any time soon:
“You know, people remember the greatest players of all time, and they argue all the time, but no one really talks about team aspect unless they’re a true fan of the craft.
You talk about the Spurs, you gotta talk about dynasty. You talk about the Lakers, you got to talk about dynasty. You talk about the Celtics, you talk about dynasty. They literally took over eras, the Detroit Pistons, they defined an era.”
With Irving’s history, there’s a necessary skepticism about whether he’ll really stay in Dallas.
When he was with the Cavs and Celtics, he was expected to retire with them.
To be fair, recherché baller never said he would. Nonetheless, due to the history he made in Cleveland and an expressed desire to re-sign with Boston, it just made sense. Even in his recent comments, Irving didn’t say he’ll never leave. Yet, with the way he’s taken to the Mavs and his talk about a dynasty, it seems as if he may spend the rest of his career in the Lone Star State.
