Nets guard Kyrie Irving clarified comments he made earlier in the week and insisted he wasn’t pressuring the front office to make significant changes before next month’s trade deadline, Malika Andrews of ESPN reports. However, he did hint that changes need to be made in the long run in order to become a serious title contender.
Irving said on Friday that in his previous comments he was simply giving a forthright assessment of the team’s current plight. Brooklyn is four games below .500 and currently sits in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
“I think we have championship aspirations,” Irving said. “Do we want to be the eighth seed going into the playoffs? The seventh seed? But you’re able to be real with the team that you have here, and you’re able to collectively, cohesively come together as a group. That is what you figure out. But the goals are still to win a championship. I don’t come in every day to be mediocre or to be in the middle of the standings.”
Irving told the media on Wednesday after back-to-back losses that the team’s weaknesses were “glaring” and that additional pieces were needed in order to reach the next level. At the time, Irving named Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Garrett Temple, Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert as key pieces but left out other rotation players, including Jarrett Allen, Taurean Prince, and Joe Harris.
Irving spoke with teammates about those comments and said that failing to mention certain players was just an oversight on his part. However, he does believe the roster as currently constructed won’t be enough to put the Nets over the top.
“I reached out to make sure nothing was taken out of context — making sure that the guys knew exactly what I meant,” Irving said. “And that is the only thing that matters. Everyone can say, ‘If I was in this position, I would’ve said this, I would’ve done this.’ … The most important thing is making sure these guys — they have the belief in themselves and I continue to reiterate that confidence we have as a team. It is going to come down to that in order to be at a championship level to compete against the West, we need more.”
He’s such a major head case. The more time passes it’s seems like the Cavs won the title in spite of Kyrie and not because of him. My guess is he doesn’t even sniff an NBA Final the rest of his career.
25.2 ppg and 4 apg in their title run. Yeah he did absolutely nothing.
Kyrie rode LeBron’s coattails, just like the rest of them.
Agreed. though I wouldn’t say they won in spite of him. but he seems such a terrible leader and that’s a comment begging to cause major locker room issues
I wonder who is happier that Irving is gone and replaced by Walker…the Celtics fans or the Celtics players.
Both
I can’t wait until he retires and becomes a GM. He will make Isaiah Thomas look like a genius.
That would be great for the wrong reasons– surely nobody would hire him for GM!
Unbelievably, some (like ScottiePippen) want to see Irving take on more leadership. But that is not his strength. Probably wasn’t for the first IT either, recalling his Piston days.
I can’t wait til Durant’s back. Should take about a week for Kyrie to hurt his feelings
Why can’t KD be the leader they supposedly need? Not like he’s doing much else besides collecting that check.
As a Knicks fan, I am somewhat glad that they didn’t land Kyrie and KD this past offseason. Both are more talented than anyone on the Knicks roster currently, but Irving is poisonous and KD is thin skinned.
Boston’s record was better pre-Irving, and so far Brooklyn’s was as well. Generally adding a player of Kyrie’s talent should have shifted it in the other direction.
You should be overjoyed. He’s a loser.
The Knicks were winners by losing the Kyrie Irving sweepstakes. I’m a long time Nets fan who was happy with D. Russell and S. Napier last season but the Nets management is more interested in selling tickets then building a championship team.
The man can’t help himself.
Kyrie has great talent, but every team he joins gets worse. Nets should package the three amigos to the Knicks and trust Allen, Dinwidde and Harris. A good culture beats selfish but talented players.
With the three amigos they have a slim chance of winning it but… with Dins, Harris & Allen they have sub-zero chances of winning, good culture don’t win, you really need talent.
Kyrie is a waste of money and the Nets were foolish to ignore his history and trade their All-Star point guard, DeAngelo Russell. If Kyrie was needed in order to sign Durant then I understand but it’s not too late to trade Kyrie and if D.Jordan and K.D. also want out then goodbye. Kyrie needs LeBron James who knows how to keep Kyrie in check!