Kyrie Irving may have killed the players power movement in the NBA
With all of the nonsense and bullshit, Kyrie Irving has spewed over the years about empowerment. His legacy may very well end up being how he destroyed the NBA players power movement. Kyrie went back on his word to the Celtics fans about returning to Boston in favor of linking up with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. Kyrie couched in his normal hoopla about going home or whatever diarrhea fell out of his mouth. Along with the move to Brooklyn came an empowerment for him and KD. One that got 2 coaches fired even after admitting they didn’t need a coach. James Harden with an over payment at the request of the superstars. How’d that work out? Essentially the entire flip of a growing promising roster was at the behest of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant (who wouldn’t have been in Brooklyn with out Kyrie and honestly is a beta).
Stephen A has been all over this guy for years now. The ESPN star was the first to suggest the “professional behavior” from Kyrie and one, Ben Simmons will have long lasting effects with GM’s and even the next CBA. Of course we are all aware Ben Simmons sat out a year claiming many excuses, mental health and back problems, etc, which were bullshit. Kyrie wasn’t much better. Stephen A Smith remains steadfast on the subject and believes GMs should and will be too.
LeBron James spent a career, 20 years, revolutionizing professional sports by providing the players with more power than they have ever had before. He was able to dictate and determine his success via negotiations, sponsorships, player movement, roster building, but most importantly back it up with championships. At the very least he provided some of the greatest performances the league as ever seen. With out taking basically any time off.
Kyrie Irving in his shadow, has demanded his way out of now three organizations, and instead of leaving championships and banners in his wake like LeBron, he's leaving distain and burnt bridges. Most importantly, he's fired warning shots cross the bow of every management team in the NBA. This very well could happen to their franchise if they rely too heavily on player involvement when it comes to building their roster and building their team. There will 100% be a team that is willing to give Kyrie a contract. That’s going to be a team desperate for ticket sales or headlines. OR Lebron.
What GM in their right mind would put their trust in Kyrie Fucking Irving? Of course the NBA will continue to be driven by their star athletes, but there is already a level of back peddling from organizations giving too much power to their super stars. Everyone remains a flight risk, but it’s no longer like the height of the Lebron era. We are even getting some actual bad blood back in the league with Ja “murder what” Rule - Morant’s Grizzlies pissing everyone off. You can feel a shift.
It’s just ironic the lil guy who once wanted to create a players owned league and consistently spouts about the empowerment of “his peoples” will be the biggest and worst case study for how NOT to give players too much power. And this will remain the case for years to come. This file will will just keep growing. At least as long as those pesky Jews control the media. AmI right, Ky?!