Kyrie Irving was a guest on teammate Kevin Durant‘s new podcast, The ETC with Kevin Durant on The Boardroom. They said some interesting things, such as KD admitting they solidified plans to team up — somewhere — during All-Star weekend before their free agency. (There was plenty more.)
Among the things Irving said: In Durant, he finally has a teammate he trusts to take the final shot.
Umm… LeBron James? The guy competing for his fourth ring right now.
That may have been an unintentional oversight by Irving, but NBA Twitter reacted to the comment in the rational, reasoned way it always does. Which is to say, people freaked out. It forced Irving to respond:
“Why must it always be brother against brother? Why? If I’m addressing anyone, I’ll say their name.”
Kyrie denies taking shots at LeBron after his comments on KD’s podcast pic.twitter.com/2LSnCv6Dby
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 1, 2020
Irving and LeBron may not be tight like Irving and KD, but it’s fair to say Irving probably didn’t intend to throw shade. (I say probably because judging anyone’s intentions is no-win.) We should take Irving at his word.
Other words he said on the podcast include saying that coaching a team like the Nets is “a collaborative effort” where the players are the coaches too.
Kyrie Irving speaks on the coaching situation: "I don't really see us having a "head" coach. KD could be a head coach, I could be a head coach (some days)."
KD adds: "Jacque Vaughn could be a head coach could do it one day. It's a collaborative effort."
— Alec Sturm (@alec_sturm) October 1, 2020
There is a lot of talent on that Brooklyn team next season, but it will be an interesting cultural dynamic, too.