Prokorov wrote:sashaturiaf wrote:Judas
But I agree both with Whisky Slick and Prok.
1. The starting role is more symbolic than anything and in this case you can't give Judas the role after what he has pulled, especially since Patty has been the consummate professional in his place.
2. In practice who finishes games matters more than who starts games. Kyrie will be part of our best lineups but Id say let him finish games when he is playing well rather than make it a given that he will be part of the closing lineup.
In short I don't trust Kyrie. Make him the 6th man until at the very least he can play full time.
What exactly did Kyrie "pull"
He chose not to get vaccinated. the city put restrictions on him. the nets put restrictions on him. the nba allowed to have his salary docked. he accepted all of these consequences without pushback. he sacraficed a ton to be true to his choices.
People make it sound like he held out for a new contract or just went on hiatus or went MIA for 30 games intentionally. Kyrie was/is willing to play all games he is eligible to play. his teammates fully support him. so do his coaches. this isnt some malicious, divisive act. its the result of a unprecedented pandemic situation.
I don't really want to argue about Kyrie with other Nets fans since at the end of the day we all want him to play as well as he can, for as many times as he can this season. I don't think he's a good teammate but how we view him and judge him based off his past actions really is irrelevant at the end of the day.
I don't think Kyrie is a victim, and I don't think Kyrie has done everything he can to be there for his teammates when they need him the most (this is not based off this season alone but his entire Nets tenure, why was he not even in the arena after he turned his ankle in the Bucks series? Harden laced up and risked his health just to be a decoy).
BUT - at the end of the day a championship or two is the goal. Nothing says dysfunctional teams can't win titles as long as the talent is good enough, NBA history tells us that. How our season ends will determine the narrative on Kyrie's tenure as a Net. Win us a title, and Kyrie will be the misunderstood erratic basketball genius who took a stand for what he believed was right. But if we flame out and Kyrie is nowhere to be seen, then I'd say history will not look back kindly on a guy who was taking up $35m on our payroll while giving nothing.