HE’S OUR GUY
Nets say they haven’t see ‘moody’ side of Kyrie after report
“Kyrie’s a bad guy. He’s terrible. He’s moody. I don’t like to be around him,” DeAndre Jordan deadpanned. “He’s horrible in the locker room. He’s a selfish player. I don’t like his haircut. I wear his shoes only because they’re comfortable, and because he makes me.”
Obviously, Jordan was joking. When made aware of an ESPN report that highlighted Kyrie Irving’s “infamous mood swings” on Tuesday, the big man’s demeanor noticeably shifted to annoyance before settling on the sardonic. That report said Irving’s mood swings “are the unspoken concern that makes Nets officials queasy.”
“That is completely false in strictly speaking of my observation and my experience with him so far,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It’s absolutely not true.”
“I think Kyrie’s a great guy,” Jordan added. “I don’t think he does anything negative that I’ve seen that he’s done. And he’s a friend of mine, so if he was I would tell him.”
Spencer Dinwiddie burst out laughing when read that line in the report, then asked if there were more specifics in the story. A reporter read to him one of the ensuing lines of the report, which referenced an Irving “episode” during the Nets’ trip to China that “left everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it.”
“Quite honestly, I think the head-scratching incident came from front-office personnel on the Rockets,” Dinwiddie said. “All the controversy that happened had nothing to do with us.”
Irving is a personality unlike most others, that much is undeniable. But it’s impossible the Nets didn’t know this when they signed him to a four-year max contract over the summer. His influences both on and off the court have been well-documented. The Nets knew what they were signing up for, for better or worse.
“If that’s the case, then say I have mood-swings or Sean Marks has mood-swings or Kenny Atkinson has moodswings,” Jordan said. “It’s not affecting our team.”
“I’m the moody one,” Atkinson added. “I really am. I’m cranky, and I have my ups and downs.”
There were preconceived notions about what kind of teammate Irving would be, concerns that were magnified during his first season in Boston — when the Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals while he was injured — then again in his second season, when the team under-performed after his return. Irving conceded on Media Day that his mind was elsewhere last season as he battled coming to terms with his grandfather’s passing.
For what it’s worth, Irving’s teammates not only pushed back against the report but reestablished his value as a member of the team: “He’s been a great teammate so far,” Dinwiddie said.
That Irving is good for the Nets is an understatement: He’s the best player of the MarksAtkinson era, an offensive talent so bright, the Nets had to change their philosophy to best suit his abilities. He’s off to a hot start, averaging nearly 38 points on 45% shooting from the field and 41% shooting from three while using a greater share of the ball than at any other point in his career.
The Nets aren’t perfect. They have defensive issues and the offense tends to stagnate when Irving has the ball in his hands, as can be the case with most transcendent scoring talents. The last thing the team needs, though, is a rift from within.
It doesn’t appear one is happening.
“I would encourage whoever it is who has those strong feelings to just say whatever they need to say to Kyrie then,” Dinwiddie said. “As players, we haven’t experienced it. We’ve been cool.”