Kyrie Irving isn’t immune to the outside noise and knows he’s copped his fair share of criticism in the past.
After a tumultuous stint in Brooklyn, Kyrie finally got his wish and was traded to Dallas last year.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing with the Mavs, but Irving is the happiest he’s looked in a long while – reflected in his performances on the court this season.
After practice on Thursday, Irving got candid about how he’s perceived.
“I think if you look at some of the guys on our team, we’ve dealt with a lot of naysayers, a lot of critics, a lot of noise,” Irving told reporters. “Just like other teams, but I think specifically with us. Somehow I was called a chaos agent for a little bit. And there was this narrative that I’m a locker room cancer. All these things that ended up becoming… these run-a-show media pundits. I didn’t want to be the butt of anyone’s joke. I don’t mind being the butt of anyone’s joke, but not at the expense or consequence of my teammates success and our success as an organization.
“I’ve just taken a lot of hits, learned how to hit back. Learned how to protect myself. Learned how to protect my bothers and my sisters. Keep the main thing the main thing.”
Irving has managed to silence a lot of the critics, since the Mavericks made it to the postseason.
Him and Luka have formed an impressive combination, which they will need to defeat a stacked Clippers side in the first round.
Irving says that he and Luka have created a duo similar to what he and LeBron James had at the Cavs, in terms of being able to challenge each other during a game.
“I can look to Luka and be like, hey man, come on turn this up a little bit or he can be like, come on Kai. He’ll say it in his language,” Irving said.
All eyes will be on Luka and Kyrie come Sunday.
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