Kyrie Irving has expressed frustration with the way the media covers him on several occasions throughout his career, and the Brooklyn Nets star is once again sharing his thoughts on all the negativity surrounding him.
After the Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, Irving gave a blunt assessment of Brooklyn’s roster and basically said the team does not have enough pieces to contend for a championship. That led to headlines about Irving already being unhappy with the Nets, and the six-time All-Star made it clear on Friday that he was irritated by the coverage.
Kyrie Irving with STRONG words at practice:
"It's not like I'm an ass—- yelling at everybody in the freaking locker room all the time … If it's harsh as a leader or it's too much for anybody, you're not in our locker room—stay the f— out." pic.twitter.com/peVcXQgsun
— SNY (@SNYtv) January 17, 2020
“My name, it was given to me by my grandfather and I’m very grateful, but it’s in a lot of people’s mouths all the time,” Irving said. “It is what it is. I’ve earned that respect in terms of how great I am as a player, and there’s still goals I want to accomplish in this league. I can’t do it without improving an organization and winning a championship, and that’s what it comes down to.”
To those who claim he is too harsh as a leader, Irving bluntly said, “You’re not in our locker room, stay the f— out.”
What Irving seems to be missing is that the majority of people aren’t saying anything about him being too harsh of a leader. The actual criticism against Irving is that he is not a leader, period. We saw countless examples of that when he was with the Boston Celtics last year, and he is already causing issues in Brooklyn. The Nets knew the type of personality they were getting when they signed Irving, and he continues to prove why it can create unnecessary headaches.
