Orlando Sentinel

David Whitley: Irving could learn from “I Love Lucy.”

- David Whitley Sentinel Columnist

Kyrie Irving probably has no idea whose birthday it is today. He should look it up and learn something to help him navigate his career crisis.

The Cleveland Cavs’ AllStar guard is tired of playing second fiddle to LeBron James. As great as Kyrie is, it’s LeBron’s World and the rest of us are just watching this soap opera in it.

“Yes, that’s drama,” NBA commission­er Adam Silver said during “The Rich Eisen Show.” “But it’s not necessaril­y the kind of drama the league wants.”

Whether James is too bossy or Irving’s overly jealous, the bottom line is Irving wants to break up the band.

Didn’t he ever hear of Yoko Ono?

Again, probably not since she broke up the Beatles two decades before Irving was

born. But current history is also littered with would-be dynasties destroyed by individual­ism.

We could start with our own Penny vs. Shaq, which eventually led to Shaq vs. Kobe, which would have led to three or four more Lakers titles if the egos could have been contained.

Nobody says it’s easy being Tonto. But you’re going to catch a lot more outlaws with the Lone Ranger, even if you resent the fact Dan Gilbert lets him bring his buddies on the team plane.

That’s supposedly one of Irving’s gripes. I wouldn’t care if LeBron got to bring Ann Coulter, Al Sharpton and a slobbering Great Dane on the plane.

James also brings an automatic ticket to the NBA Finals wherever he goes. And isn’t winning a championsh­ip the ultimate goal?

Other than the Warriors, which team offers

Irving the best chance at another NBA ring?

Whichever one LeBron is on.

“It’s upsetting when you see superstar players who have coexisted and have had so much success together – three Finals in a row and one championsh­ip – to hear that for whatever reason there is a sense that they can’t continue to coexist,” Silver said.

Irving apparently doesn’t have a “Coexist” bumper sticker on his Lamborghin­i. We could blame all this on a case of millennial entitlemen­t, but stars were not aligning long before Irving demanded a trade.

They were also looking back in regret.

“When you get older you have more perspectiv­e,” Bryant said, “and you’re like, ‘Holy (bleep),’ I was an idiot when I was a kid.”

He said that three years ago on a podcast with Shaq. Their feud was so big it has its own Wikipedia page.

And while there are ample cautionary tales

Irving could read, there are plenty of examples of top-notch players taking second-banana roles.

Let’s start with the obvious – George Costanza.

After a couple of seasons on “Seinfeld,” Jason Alexander was popular enough to demand his own show. If he had, the world would have been deprived of, among other hilarities, Costanza becoming Assistant to the Traveling Secretary for the Yankees.

Bob Cousy was the NBA’s MVP in 1957, which just happened to be Bill Russell’s rookie year. David Robinson was a perennial All-Star when the Spurs drafted Tim Duncan.

Scottie Pippen had developed into Scottie Pippen by 1991, but Chicago had another guy who was pretty good, too. Like LeBron, he could also be pretty demanding on teammates from time to time.

Instead of wanting to escape the shadows, Cousy, Robinson and Pippen stuck around and

won 14 championsh­ips with their teammates.

But no, today is not Cousy’s birthday, or Costanza’s.

Vivian Vance would turn 108 if she were still with us. She was a classicall­y trained actress and Broadway staple, but she decided to try this thing called TV in 1951.

Vance was actually only two years older than Lucille Ball, and she didn’t like playing a frumpy housewife named Ethel Mertz.

“We would fight like sisters,” she said of her and Lucy, “but we made up like sisters.”

The result was “I Love Lucy,” which was voted “Best TV Show of All Time” in a 2012 survey by ABC News and People magazine.

There’s probably an episode playing right now. Irving should check it out.

Maybe he’d realize that having a big role in “I Love LeBron” isn’t such a bad job after all.

 ?? CBS/ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? The “I Love Lucy” cast included, from left, Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance and Desi Arnaz.
CBS/ASSOCIATED PRESS The “I Love Lucy” cast included, from left, Lucille Ball, Vivian Vance and Desi Arnaz.
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