The Complicated Teammate: Kyrie Irving
On Irving's polarizing nature, free choice theory, and the three important pillars of team success that he violates
Coaching colloquialisms have seeped into my pores through the years, many of which stick with me as being genuinely accurate when it comes to constructing a winning team. Regardless of what level (professional, college, high school), the same traits can have an impact on success, and for each trait, there seems to be a coaching saying that applies.
One of my favorites, and one that we use frequently with our team: the best ability is availability. Loosely translated from coachspeak into the common tongue, be present. Be there for your teammates, be healthy, be part of what we are building. Be invested and available to accomplish your tasks, and then the skills and other traits really start to matter.
Injuries happen. Paternity leave, bereavement leave, outside factors that require attention… they’re all part of life. People are not machines, nor should they be encouraged to completely turn off their personal lives just to dive into the team. Who they are, and what they care about away from basketball, matters in a team construct: it helps the team take shape and become a collection of its individuals.
So what is this availability that coaches are referring to? Mostly, it means choosing the group you’ve agreed to be with and working to minimize the roadblocks that prevent you from being together. Can’t find a ride to practice? Pick up the phone and call a teammate or a coach and do everything you can to be there. Have a mandatory lecture your professor is making you go to? Talk with your coach as soon as possible to see if practice can be moved to another time. As another coach-ism goes, we want people who are “in the business of eliminating excuses.”
All of this leads back to Kyrie Irving, one of the most talented basketball players in the world. Through much of the past two years, Irving has become the NBA’s most scrutinized player — for reasons that have very little to do with basketball. While Irving is incredibly genuine in his care for others and philanthropic exploits, he has struggled to eliminate excuses and roadblocks that could prevent him from joining his team on-court. Now, after countless controversies and melodramas with Irving in Brooklyn, he is seeking a new home.
Issues of personal choice are always delicate. As a coach, adult, teacher and (hopefully someday) parent, I believe a lot in the personal choice theory: our job isn’t to tell others what to do, simply to give them a clear look at the ramifications of their potential actions so they can make an informed choice. This is not my attempt to relitigate Irving’s handling of his choices to avoid vaccination, to question the fact that the Earth is round, to publicly promote a book filled with antisemitic commentary, or to convince him to stay in Brooklyn. Instead, this is my attempt to illustrate an ever-changing market for a player — and a person — who has continually violated the most sacrosanct covenant of team sports: be present and value team over self.
As individuals, we are all the cumulation of the decisions we’ve made throughout our lives. Some forks in the road bear greater consequences than others, and shape us for better or for worse. In thinking about the free choice theory, we can often find those influential moments and look back to examine what the choices made reveal about us, and what we can or should learn from the paths we’ve walked.
Kyrie’s first major decision came in the summer of 2017 when he asked the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the request came so that Irving could “be more of a focal point” and not have to “play alongside LeBron James.” Irving put forth a shortlist of teams he’d prefer to go to, and at just 25 years old, there were plenty who believed he would flourish in a role as the alpha dog. In Cleveland, next to LeBron, Irving had been a second fiddle but made three consecutive NBA Finals appearances and won one NBA Championship. In the 2017 NBA Finals, just weeks before his public trade request, Irving averaged 29.4 points per game on 24.6 field goal attempts, with a dazzling 40-point performance in the Cavs’ only win during the series.
Someone advising Irving would have been able to show him the allure of that pathway he was seeking: a return to the Finals, this time as the driving force and the recipient of all those individual accolades. The ball would be in his hands more, he’d be more comfortable, and his legacy would be cemented as he continued to win.
Someone also could have shown him the other way his path would be received: walking away from a championship team reveals his priorities are not in receiving another ring, but in embracing a new challenge as the lone star, for all the responsibility that brings and the reliability needed to succeed. When one task gets accomplished — or simply isn’t going in a way that is comfortable for Irving — he sets off on a new adventure and looks for greener pastures, and by leaving Cleveland, he could perpetuate such a view.
The bottom line is that Irving was already on a max contract and making the NBA Finals on an annual basis. While LeBron can be difficult to play with due to how much he demands of his teammates, choosing to leave that for the thought of being the number-one option elsewhere involves a bit of ego. Walking away from a championship contender simply to take on the challenge of propelling a franchise to that level as the main cog in the wheel places a higher priority on accomplishing his personal goals than the goals of a title team.
Sure enough, that summer Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics, a historic franchise and main rival of LeBron and Cleveland. Here, Irving to the best of both worlds: an opportunity to be the main superstar in town and a team with short-term aspirations for a championship. In the deal, the Celtics gave up the face of their franchise in Isaiah Thomas — a tough player to win a championship with due to his physical limitations, but a move that quickly brought skepticism to a wild and rabid fan base.
Irving was walking into a situation he likely did not fully understand. Fans were aware of Kyrie’s exit in Cleveland and worried that, since the Celtics were not originally on the list of top destinations Irving had listed, he would leave once again.
During his introductory press conference with the C’s, Irving was somewhat self-centered in his responses, particularly to a question about why he requested a trade:
"It was my time to do what was best for me in terms of my intentions, and that’s going after something bigger than myself and honestly being in an environment that’s conducive to my potential. I think that statement is self-explanatory, because it’s pretty direct in terms of what my intent is: To be happy and to be with a group of individuals that I can grow with.”
That’s a lot of “I” statements for a guy to make, and many Celtics fans caught on. Throughout Kyrie’s first season, the focus was just as much on his contract situation (and whether he would re-sign) as it was on their chance of winning with him on-court. Everybody saw the growth and the potential after his first year in Boston, but didn’t want to fall in love with a superstar only for him to leave town a year later.
Then, in a surprising and unprecedented move, Irving took the mic to address season ticket holders on October 4th, 2018, and quite directly stated his intentions to remain in Boston long-term:
“I shared it with some of my teammates as well as the organization and everyone else in Boston: If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here next year,”
That was major decision #2.
Those in his circle could have held up two mirrors with different paths and futures. One would show the comfort that would immediately deliver Kyrie, allowing him to escape the questions, scrutiny, or attention that would come from his contractual uncertainty. Even if he did leave, Kyrie could likely chalk it up to changing circumstances or a development that took place during the season.
The other mirror would have revealed a star player now reneging on his second franchise in less than twenty-four months if he did decide to leave Boston and the hit that would bring upon his credibility. If Kyrie were to become a trusted member of a team anywhere, he would be smarter not to make such a decree, live with the uncertainty in Boston, and make his decision at the end of the 2018-19 season.
But Kyrie didn’t heed any advice — if any was given to him. He made the public declaration to the Celtics faithful, insisting that while he would opt out of his player option (to hit free agency and get a payday sooner), he was going to stay in Boston the following summer when the contract is up.
"I have every intention of signing with Boston next year. I do have a dream of putting my No. 11 in the rafters one day if I'm so blessed to do that. I've worked my tail off, obviously a lot of great players have come before me, but to throw my name in Boston Celtics tradition and history is something I'm glad I can do. And I'm planning on doing so."
The comfort that came for the Celtics organization and their fans did not last too long. After putting the matter to bed during training camp, the Irving contract status reared its head again in February. The Celtics, winners of seven of their last eight, were rolling and (finally) healthy. Seven players averaged double-figures and Irving was having a masterful season: 23.7 points, 50% shooting and 6.9 assists per game while making the All-Star team.
But before the game against the New York Knicks on February 1st, Irving walked back his preseason comments about staying in Boston. “Ask me July 1,” Irving said in response to reporters asking if he had changed his mind. By cracking the door open, Kyrie was likely softening the blow for the franchise and their fanbase if he was going to leave.
He ultimately did leave Boston, heading for the Brooklyn Nets to team up with Kevin Durant. Irving is more than capable of going wherever he wants and not owing an explanation to anyone. But the public reasoning he’d given to leaving Cleveland to become the foundational star now seemed hollow when going to join a former MVP in Durant. The worry about Irving quickly transformed from a guy searching for his own team to a person searching for anywhere he could be comfortable. It’s clear he was searching for himself throughout the process.
That quest for comfort, and the spotlight once again on Irving for his decisions, revealed a lot about his personality. He famously questioned whether the earth was indeed round, changed the tone with which he spoke to the media, and generally began to shrink away from accountability. When there’s an issue he’s passionate about and can control the narrative on, he’s the first to speak and demands accountability from others. If he’s the one caught in the crossfire, he demands privacy and insists he owes nobody else a modicum of candor.
Irving’s off-court antics are polarizing and complex. He’s incredibly charitable and giving, finds himself emboldened to help others without the need for recognition and by all accounts a kind person to speak with. He supports the WNBA unequivocally. But his time in Brooklyn has been famously marred by two major incidents that either tarnish his legacy or heavily complicate it.
Without diving into the details of his thoughts on the vaccine or sharing a book with antisemitic tropes, Irving has been in a constant state of discomfort for the last few years. He’s constantly scrutinized for his actions, seemingly feels unable to exercise his own judgments, and seeks constant escape from the questioning that some might call accountability.
In the two months since the incident really blew up about his tweet, Irving has served his suspension and recluded into a silence that would cause this to blow over. His relative silence and conformity has led to a false sense of security that things in Brooklyn might be beginning to mend.
That’s why on Friday this week, Irving’s seemingly out-of-nowhere trade request was shocking and unsurprising at the same time. The Nets are 31-20, fourth in the Eastern Conference and have a very real shot to win their conference as currently constructed. Irving shares the spotlight with Kevin Durant and, for the most part, has been able to silently move on from the chaos of December. To ask out of that situation just one week before the trade deadline is puzzling to so many.
…except those who have grown to expect the unexpected with Kyrie.
Now, the whole league is in flux, preparing for Irving to be dealt, the possibilities that Durant could be behind him, and the potential landscape-shifting that will take place over the next week. At its core, this feels like a man who always sees grass on the other side of the fence and has to go find out if it’s greener.
When players are unhappy, they often utilize their interest from other teams as a leveraging point. With 29 other teams in the league, that’s usually a winning proposition. But players with max-caliber talent and contract expectations shrink that market of teams available to sign them, and Irving specifically has burned several bridges or made himself undesirable due to off-court controversy. He’s a tough asset to acquire, and might be the most fascinating one to retain moving forward. His camp reportedly is requesting a trade due to the crumbling of extension negotiations with the Nets, largely over incentive-based or non-fully guaranteed extensions.
Any team acquiring Irving has a battlefield of landmines to walk through. Irving has, for myriad reasons, played in only 143 games in three-and-a-half years with the Nets, averaging about 34 a year entering this season. He’s now asked for trades from or de-committed from every team he’s been part of. He brings the baggage and PR headaches of anti-vaccine and antisemitism to whatever team he’d be on. And they still have to wade through all of that to negotiate price, incentive, and value with a highly stubborn thinker who just walked away from anything short of a max extension.
Yet Irving is still popular, even in some circles in the NBA. He and LeBron James seem to have a solid relationship. Irving wins fan votes to start in the All-Star game and still ranks highly in jersey sales. He’s praised by the current crop of kids as their favorite player routinely.
And he’s very, very good at basketball. The allure of his talent is still seen as potentially outweighing those landmines and slippery paths to walk. Executives are sitting around and looking at Kyrie’s talent, examining the turmoil he’s contributed to at every stop, and acting like Tobias Funke debating an open marriage:
At so many levels of basketball, teams win with or without elite talent. There’s a great lesson to be learned from some great college coaches, like Tony Bennett, Rick Barnes, Jay Wright, or Matt Painter. These are coaches who not just enjoy success but always put culture first. They guard their locker room and the people they invite into it with care. It’s part of why they have some of the lowest transfer rates, retain multi-year players, and almost always find themselves succeeding. They care about the people and don’t look to take shortcuts toward success.
There’s a lesson in there somewhere. Perhaps it’s about the value of patience and growth. Perhaps it’s about character and culture being more important than talent. But the lesson I continue to take away from it as a coach is simple: winning can only happen when the people are unified and bought in, not secluded and self-centered. The secret to success isn’t about X’s and O’s, tactical adjustments, skill development, or talent accumulation (even if they’re necessary ingredients). Winning only happens when those ingredients come together… when the players want to win for each other. Unfortunately, one bad apple can spoil the bunch in that sense. The goal of constructing a winning team, in my mind, should be about weeding out those spoiled portions and removing them from the orchard.
Again, it needs to be stated: my role here is not to tell Irving what he should or shouldn’t have done, but to be someone who holds up the mirror to reveal what will become of him if he travels each path. The danger in being such a passionately individual thinker and marching to the beat of your own drum is that the same social consequences don’t stoke the same fear in you as they do in others. Irving is so self-assured in his own choices that he only looks in one mirror, even when someone holds two in front of him.
That leads us to today, where Irving is looking for his fourth team to call home. Each stop prior has ended on Irving’s watch and when he decided it was time. The work that goes into being successful with Kyrie and keeping him happy has become much more hellacious of a task as the years go by. That alone dwindles his market and makes him a pariah, even when his talent level is unquestionably elite.
Much of the work that I do as a coach is built around the idea of ‘team over self’ and sacrifice for the benefit of the whole. Off-court judgments aside, there seems to be an awful lot of evidence mounting that Irving doesn’t make such priorities — from the way he negotiates his future contracts to the hollow rings his calls to stay at each stop he’s been at become.
That leads us to the final and biggest word for Kyrie: trust. Lou Holtz used to ask players three questions to figure out if they would be the right ones for the Notre Dame program:
Are you committed?
Do you care about others?
Can we trust you?
Irving feels like the guy who is constantly begging for individual freedom because he wants to be trusted to make decisions for himself. He so desperately wants individuality and autonomy, but he’s done very little to prove his trust toward the ultimate goal of a team sport: to commit, care, and be trustworthy to his teammates.
I’m struggling to find examples where Irving has put his teammates and team goals above those of his own. Where the success of his group is more important than his comfort. Where his word to compete and show up every day, through good times and bad, has been upheld. This trade request, for a surging Nets team with a fellow superstar on it, is another reminder that such examples don’t exist.
You may agree with him for that, sympathize with his need to secure the next contract, or even revere him for his charitable giving. But as a coach, I cannot call Kyrie Irving a winning basketball player or endorse his acquisition for any franchise in the league. In a team setting, I simply don’t trust him.