{"id":78011,"date":"2024-05-19T12:34:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T16:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=78011"},"modified":"2024-05-19T12:34:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T16:34:41","slug":"kyrie-irving-opens-up-struggles-led-mavs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/19\/kyrie-irving-opens-up-struggles-led-mavs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyrie Irving Opens Up About Struggles That Led Him to Mavs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the 2024 Western Conference Finals, Mavs star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a> was all smiles when took the podium with teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a>. A duo that\u2019s become as thick as thieves, the way they\u2019ve helped each other off the court may be as important as what they\u2019ve provided on it.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters about what the experience has been like, Irving confirmed what everyone has seen since he arrived in Dallas:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just think this guy next to me has pushed me to continue to work on my game and continue to develop as a young leader,\u201d Irving remarks. \u201cI think the big word that we can agree on is just maturity.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on what they mean to each other:<\/p>\n<p>Doncic: \u201cNothing but supportive of everything I did\u2026Just helped me mature a lot, realize to see the game in a different way, and obviously on the court it\u2019s amazing to play with a guy like him\u2026The leader he\u2019s been\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QdZAaXBPEZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/QdZAaXBPEZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Noah Weber (@noahweber00) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/noahweber00\/status\/1792032986499543044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Coming into Dallas, I was dealing with a lot mentally, spiritually, emotionally,\u201d Irving explains, \u201cand they embraced me with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To say Irving was dealing with a lot is putting it mildly. In 2022-23, the season that the Brooklyn Nets traded him to the Mavs, the controversial combo guard was vilified.<\/p>\n<h2>Kyrie Irving Opens Up About Struggles That Led Him to Mavs<\/h2>\n<p>Frankly, Irving already had a less than stellar reputation after leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics high and dry while trying to find the right franchise to call home.<\/p>\n<p>In both instances, it was clear that he left because he didn\u2019t want to play in someone\u2019s shadow. To that point, Cavs media members were woefully misguided by their adulation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a>, asking Irving \u2014who is close with his father \u2014if he saw James as <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/UVW9M3gFAYg?si=PtrVyYFBvQnS4Pf8\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a father figure<\/a>. In Boston, the fascination with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a> was so intense that him becoming the face of the franchise was inevitable.<\/p>\n<h3>Kyrie\u2019s Conspiracies<\/h3>\n<p>With both teams, he made headlines with his eclecticism as well.<\/p>\n<h4>From Flat Earths to Secret Societies<\/h4>\n<p>In Cleveland, Irving was briefly a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/cavaliers\/features\/road-trip-170217\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Flat Earth truther<\/a>. In his time with the Celtics, he advanced conspiracy theories about why John F. Kennedy and Bob Marley met their demise. However, while these comments caused side-eyes, they weren\u2019t offensive to anyone. Though they had an impact on his reputation, with many failing to take him seriously, he hadn\u2019t been characterized as a bad person.<\/p>\n<p>That all changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though Irving was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-features\/nba-anti-vaxxers-covid-1231988\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">far from the only player<\/a> unwilling to take the COVID vaccine, his status as a public conspiracy theorist was unique in the NBA. As a result, when <em>he<\/em> was hesitant about it, the media homed in on his comments.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n<p>First, Irving posted a social media clip that claimed the vaccine was the brainchild of a secret society conspiring against African-Americans on behalf of the evil Abrahamic entity known as Satan. This type of thinking has been shared by many African-Americans though, as it\u2019s a population that\u2019s understandably distrustful of the American government and people in positions of power. As a result, it didn\u2019t cause as much of an uproar as it might otherwise have.<\/p>\n<h4>Of All People?<\/h4>\n<p>A year later, Irving posted a clip from far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.<\/p>\n<p>This was a double whammy for Irving. As an African-American universalist, Irving supporting Jones was counterintuitive given the latter\u2019s xenophobia. Furthermore, Jones\u2019 false claims about the tragic events in Sandy Hook led to him <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/shootings-school-connecticut-conspiracy-alex-jones-3f579380515fdd6eb59f5bf0e3e1c08f\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">losing nearly $1 billion<\/a> in a defamation lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Irving continued to believe there was an unknown actor releasing the vaccines was problematic. Yet, to this day, people still unsure of how a vaccine escaped from a lab. That said, it wasn\u2019t the worst thing he could have done.<\/p>\n<p>Publicly tying himself to a person like Jones was.<\/p>\n<h4>That\u2019s Offensive<\/h4>\n<p>When Irving also supported the idea that Black Hebrews are the only authentic descendants of the ancient Israelites, it caused another uproar.<\/p>\n<p>Irving originally made his feelings on the topic known in 2021. However, because of the attention his comments about the COVID outbreak had caused, there were even more eyes on him. With the world watching his every move, he then made the biggest mistake of his career.<\/p>\n<p>Though there are doubts that Irving ever fully watched the movie he promoted on his Twitter account, his decision to post a link to an undeniably antisemitic pseudo-documentary on Black Hebrew Israelites in 2022 was the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back. In the film, the Holocaust called a hoax and Jewish people were said to be Satan-worshippers.<\/p>\n<p>Honestly, it\u2019s easy to see why this film appealed to Irving. Aside from it being a sensationalized conspiracy theory, it tied some of his previously supported theories together. To Irving, it must have seemed that the Jewish elite were part of the secret society conspiring against African-Americans and giving the go-ahead to release the COVID vaccine.<\/p>\n<p>Frankly, that\u2019s going to sound crazy to most people. That said, with so many events in the world that are hard to understand, even the most well-meaning individual may fall by the wayside trying to find the truth.<\/p>\n<p>That appeared to be the case with Irving.<\/p>\n<h3>Fractured Beyond Repair<\/h3>\n<p>Regardless of his intent, Irving sharing that antisemitic stance fractured his relationship with the Brooklyn Nets beyond repair.<\/p>\n<p>The two sides already weren\u2019t on stable ground due to Irving\u2019s refusal to comply with New York City\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. As a consequence of Irving\u2019s decision, he wasn\u2019t allowed to play until January. Even then it was because injuries forced Brooklyn\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, he only played 29 games in 2021-22, which turned out to be his final season with the Nets.<\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a>\u2019s trade request led to Brooklyn breaking up their Big 3 altogether, the strain caused by Irving\u2019s absence and attitude that was the catalyst. Ahead of the 2022-23 trade deadline, the Nets sent Irving to Dallas, removing a dark cloud from over the organization.<\/p>\n<p>Brooklyn has had a rough go of it since then with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Simmons<\/a> in street clothes more than a jersey. The drama surrounding the underutilization of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomaca02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Thomas<\/a> was another notable issues. Yet, the Nets may not have ever been in that position if Irving just took the vaccine.<\/p>\n<h3>Turning Over a New Leaf<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have a perfect journey\u2026,\u201d Irving says.<\/p>\n<p>As a former Rookie of the Year and All-Star Game MVP with eight All-Star selections and a championship ring, nobody can deny Irving\u2019s greatness. They\u2019ve tried to do that by leaving him off the list of the 75 greatest NBA players of all-time. However, even when the boos are raining down on him from all directions, people know he\u2019s one of the best hoopers they\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, it wasn\u2019t until he arrived in Dallas that people began to respect him as a man. He still beats his own drum but is more mature in his interactions with everyone. He\u2019s also become a fountain of positivity, a far cry from the abrasive nature he developed early in his career. Now, he\u2019s able to be the type of leader that people wanted him to be in Boston for Tatum and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing Irving\u2019s locker room impact, Doncic says, \u201cthe leader he\u2019s been for us \u2014not just for me, but for us \u2014he\u2019s been amazing. Always positive energy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he came, (he was) nothing but supportive of everything I did, everything we did,\u201d Doncic adds. \u201cBut (he) just helps me mature\u2026 to see the game in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the 2024 Western Conference Finals, Mavs star Kyrie Irving was all smiles when took the podium with teammate Luka Doncic. A duo that\u2019s become as thick as thieves, the way they\u2019ve helped each other off the court may be as important as what they\u2019ve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":78024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1608,5,6,9,62],"tags":[406,1133,596],"class_list":["post-78011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mavericks","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-nets","category-cavaliers","category-nba","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}