In an interview with Shannon Sharpe, former Dallas Mavericks proprietor Marc Cuban defined why the staff traded for Kyrie Irving after experiencing a number of controversial seasons on his earlier groups.
Across the six minute mark of the interview on Shay Shay Membershipwhich may be seen above, Sharpe requested Cuba why he determined to welcome Irving into the fold regardless of some disappointing seasons and off-field controversies. Lastly, he was in a position to assess that signing him didn’t pose a threat by talking to him immediately.
“You speak to him, you speak to the folks round him… While you have a look at Kyrie after the sport… [He’s] one in every of these guys, he’ll hug you want he is recognized you for 20 years and also you’re first cousins,” he shared. “And it says lots when guys get shut as a lot from one another. While you speak to the gamers, they liked him. Nobody has had a nasty phrase to say about Kyrie ever stepping on the courtroom. To me, that was all we wanted to know.”
Throughout his keep at Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn fillets the 32-year-old guard encountered issues which hampered his time in courtroom. Throughout his first yr with the Celtics, he suffered a season-ending harm and later attracted controversy for selling conspiracy theories. Then on the Nets, he suffered one other season-ending harm, then determined to not get vaccinated towards COVID-19, regardless of New York Metropolis’s mandate on the time.
Cuban mentioned that after analyzing what “went unsuitable” when Irving was in Brooklyn and Boston, quite a lot of it comes all the way down to maturity. “However quite a lot of it was additionally as a result of circumstances,” he mentioned. “How typically is COVID going to hit and result in these circumstances? What we discovered is that you just simply should let Kyrie be Kyrie. I really like speaking to the man. … He has a coronary heart of gold, he has an enormous coronary heart and he needs to assist folks.
Whereas the Mavericks missed the playoffs in his first season with the staff, he loved a renaissance season in 2024 and helped the staff attain the NBA Finals for the primary time in over a yr. decade.
Nevertheless, earlier than Cuba made an effort to get to know him, he thought-about Kyrie “a staff killer,” however he hadn’t spoken to him immediately. “When the chance to commerce for him offered itself, okay, let’s get the job performed. … Everybody liked him,” he added.
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He additionally mentioned that he made positive to assist him when he was dropped by a few of his sponsors. “In case you discover the agreements he has signed since he got here to us, there aren’t any issues, there aren’t any issues as a result of we let Kyrie be Kyrie,” he mentioned. he declared.
Watch Cuban’s full interview up prime.