Kyrie Irving Goodbye Thread

[Edug27]

Kyrie needs to look into the mirror and ask himself why Kyle Lowry is a winning player and he isn't.

Because Ainge didn't trade for Kawhi Leonard?

Precisely.

[Gooner]

Kyrie needs to look into the mirror and ask himself why Kyle Lowry is a winning player and he isn't.

Kyrie is a champion.

[CeltsfaninDC]

Kyrie needs to look into the mirror and ask himself why Kyle Lowry is a winning player and he isn't.

Kyrie is a champion.

WAS...... he hasn’t won much of anything in a while now. He had a chance this year and decided instead to cause a ruckus. I’ll bet he won’t win next year in NJ either.

[Gooner]

Kyrie needs to look into the mirror and ask himself why Kyle Lowry is a winning player and he isn't.

Kyrie is a champion.

WAS...... he hasn’t won much of anything in a while now. He had a chance this year and decided instead to cause a ruckus. I’ll bet he won’t win next year in NJ either.

He had one bad year, that's it.

[greenroom31]

I have no problem with Kyrie signing with his hometown team. No problem him leaving our team. no issue him doing all this even though free agency doesn't start for 2 weeks and both him and the nets know he's signing there.

I do have an issue with him making some commercial about wanting his number in the rafters and telling the entire arena he's coming back at the start of the season.

Agreed. I was there in person for the announcement at the season ticket holder event and it definitely causes me to lose respect for him. If you're not sure just don't say anything. Instead your word is now meaningless to me (not that he gives a **** about me specifically, but to a whole fan base).

[CeltsfaninDC]

Kyrie is a champion.

WAS...... he hasn’t won much of anything in a while now. He had a chance this year and decided instead to cause a ruckus. I’ll bet he won’t win next year in NJ either.

He had one bad year, that's it.

We went further in the Playoffs WITHOUT him than we did WITH him. Sorry, but he did not live up to his OWN stated expectations. Did he get well paid in this “one bad year”? Thats not how a champ plays or acts. Listen, I’ve been a huge advocate for resigning him, but to throw out the “he’s a champ” nonsense after his tenure here is to ignore his actual performance which is, again, based on his own statements and expectations. He certainly wasn’t a champion these past few years.

[Gooner]

WAS...... he hasn’t won much of anything in a while now. He had a chance this year and decided instead to cause a ruckus. I’ll bet he won’t win next year in NJ either.

He had one bad year, that's it.

We went further in the Playoffs WITHOUT him than we did WITH him. Sorry, but he did not live up to his OWN stated expectations. Did he get well paid in this “one bad year”? Thats not how a champ plays or acts. Listen, I’ve been a huge advocate for resigning him, but to throw out the “he’s a champ” nonsense after his tenure here is to ignore his actual performance which is, again, based on his own statements and expectations. He certainly wasn’t a champion these past few years.

That's because he got injured, and then when he came back the team was reluctant of adjustign their roles around him. What do you mean by "past few years". He won his championship only 3 years ago, and he played in another final year after. His first year in Boston was succesfull too, until the injury.

[CeltsfaninDC]

He had one bad year, that's it.

We went further in the Playoffs WITHOUT him than we did WITH him. Sorry, but he did not live up to his OWN stated expectations. Did he get well paid in this “one bad year”? Thats not how a champ plays or acts. Listen, I’ve been a huge advocate for resigning him, but to throw out the “he’s a champ” nonsense after his tenure here is to ignore his actual performance which is, again, based on his own statements and expectations. He certainly wasn’t a champion these past few years.

That's because he got injured, and then when he came back the team was reluctant of adjustign their roles around him. What do you mean by "past few years". He won his championship only 3 years ago, and he played in another final year after. His first year in Boston was succesfull too, until the injury.

No... its wasn’t successful. The team did not put up another banner and he was not a champion here. ONLY three years ago.... I don’t give two shites about what he did with CLE. When he was here he was NOT a champ in any sense of the word. He failed based on his own goals and statements.

[soxfan2003]

Kyrie to Nets may be the best decision for him.
From a historical perspective, his "legacy" on the hardwood isn't something that he has to be overly concerned with. IMO his legacy is probably going to be above someone like Tiny Archibald because Kyrie played in a much bigger television era and will end up playing longer but below someone like Isiah Thomas of Detroit. In addition, Kyrie is still going to make the HOF even if he has a lackluster Nets/Celtics/wherever career. 2nd best player on a team like Cavs that won the title and high postseason scoring will do that. Cavs will probably eventually retire his number. Nets are in a better position overall than Knicks...

If he signs with Boston and then AD leaves -- assuming Celtics get AD -- after a year after let's say Celtics possibly lose in ECFinals, Ainge may trade him after a year to some forsaken place.

I really don't blame the guy for going to the Nets whether KD goes there or not. Play in front of family and friends in an environment with less pressure next season. Even if KD comes, it will be less pressure since KD may not be the same....

[Andrew McCeltic]

The worst case for us would be the Nets maxing Kyrie day one and then sign and trading Russell to Philly for Harris..

[Andrew McCeltic]

For what it’s worth, if Lebron hadn’t come back to Cleveland, Kyrie would have taken a major reputation hit on losing teams as a scoring guard who doesn’t defend - he’d be closer to Devin Booker than Steph Curry, if he wasn’t just written off as an empty stat guy..

[threrf23]

He had one bad year, that's it.

In Cleveland, in came out well after the fact, but he was pissed when they traded for Lebron because he Aapparently wanted to be the face of the franchise more than he wanted to win.

Their championship, everyone remembers Kyrie's shot. But that postseason, the Cavs played slightly better with Kyrie on the bench than on the floor.

The following postseason, word was he literally stopped talking to his teammates. He didn't play so bad per se, but he likely contributed strongly to an atmosphere that sabotaged his team's chances at a repeat. Then he had the nerve to get on ESPN and talk up himself saying he was raised to be honorable so he continued to give it his all even though he had decided that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Game 7 vs Cleveland - he wasn't on the sideline because he thought it was more important to recover from from minor nasal surgery in Cleveland on a Sunday evening.

One bad year? You are missing the point. He had a good year, maybe one of his best, maybe even his best. But he has a track record that suggests he is a loser, and his showing against the Bucks - attitude as much or more than anything else - helps solidify it.

[sully00]

Kyrie is a champion.

WAS...... he hasn’t won much of anything in a while now. He had a chance this year and decided instead to cause a ruckus. I’ll bet he won’t win next year in NJ either.

He had one bad year, that's it.

As far as being a champ and stud he had two bad years to go with the bad years before his Daddy came to CLE. Basically Kyrie is as much of champ as J.R. Smith. The facts are Boston was better without him than with him and probably will be again.

[sully00]

The worst case for us would be the Nets maxing Kyrie day one and then sign and trading Russell to Philly for Harris..

I am not worried about that at all I am worried about Leonard or Davis going to BRK. Harris is a #4 option when he is a #2 your likely to be .500 team. He fit in okay in PHI but I am pretty sure ORL, DET, and LAC all got better after he left.

[djFan71]

The worst case for us would be the Nets maxing Kyrie day one and then sign and trading Russell to Philly for Harris..

I am not worried about that at all I am worried about Leonard or Davis going to BRK. Harris is a #4 option when he is a #2 your likely to be .500 team. He fit in okay in PHI but I am pretty sure ORL, DET, and LAC all got better after he left.

I think the worry is more that they use Philly for the S&T part instead of us. Not the actual BKN team afterwards.

[Andrew McCeltic]

The worst case for us would be the Nets maxing Kyrie day one and then sign and trading Russell to Philly for Harris..

I am not worried about that at all I am worried about Leonard or Davis going to BRK. Harris is a #4 option when he is a #2 your likely to be .500 team. He fit in okay in PHI but I am pretty sure ORL, DET, and LAC all got better after he left.

I think the worry is more that they use Philly for the S&T part instead of us. Not the actual BKN team afterwards.

Yeah, that. Kyrie/Harris+ doesn’t worry me, but we’d miss out on Russell and lose Kyrie for nothing, and Russell would join Simmons and Embiid in an Upside Big Three, maybe with Butler or another free agent..

[Big Joke Line]

He had one bad year, that's it.

In Cleveland, in came out well after the fact, but he was pissed when they traded for Lebron because he Aapparently wanted to be the face of the franchise more than he wanted to win.

Their championship, everyone remembers Kyrie's shot. But that postseason, the Cavs played slightly better with Kyrie on the bench than on the floor.

The following postseason, word was he literally stopped talking to his teammates. He didn't play so bad per se, but he likely contributed strongly to an atmosphere that sabotaged his team's chances at a repeat. Then he had the nerve to get on ESPN and talk up himself saying he was raised to be honorable so he continued to give it his all even though he had decided that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Game 7 vs Cleveland - he wasn't on the sideline because he thought it was more important to recover from from minor nasal surgery in Cleveland on a Sunday evening.

One bad year? You are missing the point. He had a good year, maybe one of his best, maybe even his best. But he has a track record that suggests he is a loser, and his showing against the Bucks - attitude as much or more than anything else - helps solidify it.

He basically quit on the team two years in a row in the playoffs. And people still want him back. I’ll never understand why someone would want to be a cuckold but to each their own.

[Grooverider]

Watch it be Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn..match made in heaven.

[Roddy]

[meatball sub]

Kyrie has proven himself to be a loser despite that shot he hit in the finals. He’s an awesome “individual” player but he’s a terrible leader & teammate. He’d rather be the best player on a marginal playoff team than the second best player on a championship team. He’s a **** loser & we don’t need him.

It sucks that we’re losing him for nothing but that’s about it. He’s a locker room cancer — it’ll be addition by subtraction at this point given the young guys we can build around.