Brooklyn gets a feel of Kyrie Irving's mood swings

[rady]

According to ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, Irving's "mood swings ... are the unspoken concern that makes Nets officials queasy":

"When Irving lapses into these funks, he often shuts down, unwilling to communicate with the coaching staff, front office and sometimes, even his teammates. Nets team sources say one such episode occurred during Brooklyn's trip to China, leaving everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it. There's hope that Durant will be able to coax his friend into a better frame of mind."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...-swings-are-unspoken-concern-make-nets-queasy

 

[mafra]

Gonna be fun watching Kyrie and KD implode.... they can?t handle this media market. This offers me some solace....

 

[mafra]

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

The Nets are reportedly experiencing Kyrie Irving's mood swings, according to ESPN's Jackie MacMullan.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27947336/for-culture-kd-kyrie-comes-next-nets

It's a part of his personality that has reportedly been brought up multiple times over his career.

MacMullan's story, which is a detailed look at Irving, Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan's decision to sign with the Nets, is well worth your time. Important to note for context: the story also suggests that Irving and the Nets are largely on the same page at this point.


But it notes the following: "Irving's infamous mood swings, confirmed by his ex-teammates, which followed him from Cleveland to Boston to Brooklyn, are the unspoken concern that makes Nets officials queasy. When Irving lapses into these funks, he often shuts down, unwilling to communicate with the coaching staff, front office and, sometimes, even his teammates. Nets team sources say one such episode occurred during Brooklyn's trip to China, leaving everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it."

So given those off-court factors brought to light by the story, it's interesting to note that some in the Knicks organization weren't interested in signing Irving as a lone superstar over the summer. It's unknown if that opinion was unanimous, but some were concerned with how Irving -- if he came alone to The Garden -- would mesh with their young locker room.

The Knicks, of course, were interested in signing Irving and Kevin Durant together. It's unclear if that interest was reciprocated leading up to free agency.

Irving talked about the Knicks as a potential destination early in the 2018-19 season, and people with the Knicks expected to be able to talk to him during free agency. But nothing Irving has said suggests that he had strong interest in the Knicks leading up to free agency. Same goes for Durant. Irving, particularly, was locked in on Brooklyn in the weeks leading up to free agency.

One fact in the Nets' favor? Irving preferred a team with an established core and veterans, per sources. The Knicks, coming off a 17-win season, didn't meet that criteria.

Once they missed out on their top targets, New York signed several players to short-term deals and inked Julius Randle to a three-year contract.

The Knicks have started the season 1-3 and appear much further from contention than their cross-rival rivals. The Nets have Irving, a young core, and Durant waiting in the wings. But the factors reported in the ESPN story certainly raise interesting issues in Brooklyn.

The Nets have a strong culture. It appears it will be tested by Irving. But it's way too early to draw any conclusions about that factor -- or anything else about the Irving-Nets partnership.

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

 

[htr10]

I?m just speculating, but maybe the guy is dealing with depression. I?m sure traveling and being in the spotlight makes it hard to deal with it.

Kyrie is an incredible talent, but Brooklyn should be nervous about him.

 

[tiger0330]

He's never been what you would call the prototypical team player like LeBron is but he's obviously talented enough where GM's are willing to overlook his lack of leadership. Jimmy Butler is like that as well, on the other hand Dame in Portland won the Best Leader category in the annual GM survey garnering 41% of the vote, Steph got 37% and LeBron 15%.

 

[mafra]

THE NETS WERE delighted when their new power trio organized summer workouts for the team at a Los Angeles middle school in July and August. The aim was to develop chemistry and learn each other's tendencies on the court. It was going swimmingly until Brooklyn dispatched its performance team to Santa Monica for an annual two-day minicamp with the players, which involved, among other things, gathering biometric data through wearables. Irving, who has spent the past nine years working with his own performance specialist, Robin Pound, balked.

When the Nets gently urged him to participate, he didn't mince words: "I'm not doing it." It created an awkward moment, team sources say, for incumbent players who had benefited from the performance staff and ingrained that input into their routine.

"Look," Atkinson says. "These guys have won championships. They come from darn good pedigrees, and we've thrown some things at them that they've said, 'Hell no!'"

All three initially raised an eyebrow upon learning of Brooklyn's daily routine -- a two-hour time commitment that begins before practice even starts. Players receive a text informing them when their "table time" is scheduled. That includes 30 minutes with a massage therapist, physical therapist, or both, depending on what ails them that day. From there, players spend 30 minutes in the weight room, then move to the court for individual training.

"Our whole setup can be a bit rigid," Atkinson says. "We're like a college program, in some ways. We have this car wash of very specific things with very specific people.

"But I can already see it morphing into something it was not before. When Joe Harris was trying to make it in the league, he was saying, 'I'll do whatever you want.' Now we're dealing with veterans who are saying, 'OK, this is how you do it. But this is how I've always done it, and this has worked for me.'

"The challenge is, can we meld the two? No one gave us an award for mastering the culture code. We're still learning."

?-

So, Nets think there training method is what made Harris? Not Harris putting in the work? Like Harris said, he was 1/5 guys who arrived together in his free agent class and he?s the only one left. Nets day their regiment created Joe, but why didn?t it help the other 4?

Give me a break!

If there was a full-proof formulae to take busts and flip them into great players.... that would?ve been patented by now.

 

[rady]

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

" Nets team sources say one such episode occurred during Brooklyn's trip to China, leaving everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it."

This right here: The Nets are willing to look past moments like the photo shoot at the Pearl TV Tower in China, when Irving refused to remove his hat and instructed them to photoshop it out. (Source)

What kind of a person does this?

I’m just speculating, but maybe the guy is dealing with depression. I’m sure traveling and being in the spotlight makes it hard to deal with it.

It's either that or some serious personality disorder, woudn't surprise me to hear he's bipolar