Kyrie Irving made a point heading into the NBA playoffs to cut the crap and start acting like a leader on the Boston Celtics.
It seemingly has worked, as the C’s rolled through the first round with relative ease and now are giving the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks a run for their money.
But in a common trend from an up and down Celtics season, whenever the star point guard tries to give an open and honest interview, he ends up coming off kind of like a jerk.
A story penned by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan took a dive into the tumultuous Celtics season and the dismay that surrounded Irving and Co.
In it, Irving talked about handling the outside noise and analysis from talking heads, or as Irving called them, “fake basketball analysts.”
Then, he dropped this absolute doozie.
“I’ve been playing basketball a lot longer than some of these people analyzing the game,” Irving says. “I’m an actual genius when it comes to this game.
Oh, Kyrie, you were on such a good run.
“If you ask me about basketball, I will talk all day. If you ask me about spacing at the 3:33 mark of the second quarter, I will gladly explain it. I’ll tell you what plays worked, about adjustments we make. But when it comes to personal things, or comparing myself to my NBA brothers, like, ‘Do you think you are better than this guy?’ I’m out.”
Now, we’re not here to say that Irving doesn’t have a tremendous IQ when it comes to hoops. And there’s little doubt that no one on ESPN or Fox Sports 1 afternoon talk shows holds a candle to the 27-year-old when it comes to understanding the game. But usually, popping off a line to the tone of “I’m smarter than everyone else,” doesn’t translate very well.
At this point, it seems Celtics fans might be willing to turn the sound down on Irving so long as he can drum up some more of his “genius” in the playoffs.
