Love the spotlight
By all accounts, Kyrie Irving is as astute off the court as he is on it; he doesn’t make decisions without first thinking about his situation and considering all his options. When he chose to appear on ESPN’s First Take the other day, therefore, he knew what he was getting into and, more importantly, he knew what he was getting out of it. In putting himself on the line and taking any and all queries from preternaturally opinionated and inquisitive hosts Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman, he understood that he would be fueling speculation on why he forced a trade out of the Cavaliers and a seemingly cushy gig plying his trade alongside widely acknowledged hoops king LeBron James.
For all the willingness of Irving to feel the heat, however, he didn’t exactly wind up embracing it. Given how he alternated between dismissive one- word answers and cryptically convoluted statements, he didn’t seem all that intent to set the record straight once and for all. Not that those who watched him spar with Smith and Kellerman couldn’t deduce the truth behind his responses. That said, it’s precisely because all and sundry know what went down, anyway, that his inability to go on the record to confirm it comes off as a disappointment. Consider the following give and take: “Did you talk to LeBron James before you and your representatives met with ownership and let them know you wanted out?” “No.” “Why not?” “Why would I have to?” “If you don’t speak to somebody, they might take it personally.” “Yeah.” “Do you care about that at all?” “No.” It’s an exchange that lasted less than half a minute, and that, not coincidentally, had Irving using two and a half times fewer words to react to four questions than Smith did for the first question alone. In any case, it underscored the underlying reason for the 2011 first overall pick and four-time All- Star’s demand to be shipped out and away from a seemingly ideal position.
Nope, Irving didn’t have to wear a suit and subject himself to what amounted to a full-court press from Smith and Kellerman simply to highlight the extent of his dissatisfaction in a Cavaliers uniform. Then again, he didn’t have to troll the public in February when, in a popular podcast, he argued the merits of the FlatEarth Theory. The long and short is clear, of course: He loves and craves the attention. It’s why he moved to distance himself from James in the first place. Sure, he competed for three straight championships alongside the larger-than-life personality that peers, in a poll done by their union, deemed “The Player You Secretly Wish Was On Your Team.” Unfortunately, the offshoot was less than palatable to him. He didn’t want the spotlight turned on him while a shadow loomed over him at the same time.
Which, for all intents, explains his presence on First Take. It wasn’t to spurt out such ridiculous nonsense as “Oh, if you’re very woke, there is no such thing as distractions.” It was to contend, and proudly, that “I’m ready to move on. I’m ready to be on my own. I’m ready to try out a new situation. I’m ready to be in an environment
where I can feel like I can be happy.” Enough said.
The long and short is clear, of course: He loves and craves the attention. It’s why he moved to distance himself from James in the first place. Sure, he competed for three straight championships alongside the larger-thanlife personality that peers, in a poll done by their union, deemed “The Player You Secretly Wish Was On Your Team.” Unfortunately, the offshoot was less than palatable to him. He didn’t want the spotlight turned on him while a shadow loomed over him at the same time.