Kyrie after Bulls loss: “I still don’t see anybody beating us.”

[Ogaju]

I agree with him, but he really should let his play do the talking. Dude talks too much.

Not sure how his play isn't doing the talking. He's playing like a top 3 PG in the league

cool, he should hush then.

[nickagneta]

I agree with him, but he really should let his play do the talking. Dude talks too much.

Not sure how his play isn't doing the talking. He's playing like a top 3 PG in the league

cool, he should hush then.

Just shut up and dribble then? 😝🤣😂

[LarBrd33]

I agree with him, but he really should let his play do the talking. Dude talks too much.

Not sure how his play isn't doing the talking. He's playing like a top 3 PG in the league

cool, he should hush then.

I don't agree with that.  His transparency and openness is part of what makes him such a hugely marketable talent.  The issue is less the stuff he says and more how it's presented on twitter and the NBA media circus.  If they stick a microphone in his face and ask him, "so how does the experience for the young guys here compare to when you were a young guy on the Cavs" and he responds by saying, "well it's totally different... I was playing on the oldest team in the league and everyone there was playing for a championship" I don't really hold Kyrie to blame if some attention-seeker twists that quote into Kyrie bashing his young teammates. 

I've been researching this stuff by actually taking the time to go back and listen to kyrie's full interviews in-context and it's shocking to me how often he's taken out of context or flat out misquoted.  That infamous quote that went viral last month where Kyrie said: "The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?"  ... got picked up by many major media outlets.  The problem... Kyrie never said that.  It was a paraphrasing by Keith Smith (a former fan from the RealGm forum that somehow "faked it until he made it" and is now an insider - many people have called a flat out hack) distilling a 8 minute conversation into a tweet.  At no point in that interview does Kyrie say "the young guys don't know what it takes to be a championship level team."  He says something that could be interpreted that way, but his greater point was that the team had been struggling to live up to expectations and part of that was a lack of experience playing - guys hanging their head after a bad play, guys not giving consistent effort, etc.  He was holding himself accountable as well and said he needed to be a better leader while subsequently saying that he believed in his teammates and knew they had the talent to beat everyone...

In listening to the full interview, there was nothing he said I could disagree with.  But, of course, it gets paraphrased in a click-bait tweet that suggests he's throwing his teammates under the bus - that gets 2000 retweets and gets picked up by numerous publications and then a few days later Kyrie has to issue an apology for something that he never even really said.

And honestly, had I not spent the time a couple hours ago to go back and watch that full 8 minute conversation, I would have just taken that quote at face-value.  But I've come to realize that I can't trust any of the quotes I'm seeing go viral.  We're getting sold a lot of nonsense right now.

The problem is that twitter lacks nuance and people just take these quotes (some of them not even real quotes) and just run with them.  Then there's this entire media structure built around 24/7 NBA coverage that encourages and incentivizes drama.  It's a problem and this year in particular it's reached heights of which I've never seen in 20+ years following this league.

[keevsnick]

I agree with him, but he really should let his play do the talking. Dude talks too much.

Not sure how his play isn't doing the talking. He's playing like a top 3 PG in the league

cool, he should hush then.

I don't agree with that.  His transparency and openness is part of what makes him such a hugely marketable talent.  The issue is less the stuff he says and more how it's presented on twitter and the NBA media circus.  If they stick a microphone in his face and ask him, "so how does the experience for the young guys here compare to when you were a young guy on the Cavs" and he responds by saying, "well it's totally different... I was playing on the oldest team in the league and everyone there was playing for a championship" I don't really hold Kyrie to blame if some attention-seeker twists that quote into Kyrie bashing his young teammates. 

I've been researching this stuff by actually taking the time to go back and listen to kyrie's full interviews in-context and it's shocking to me how often he's taken out of context or flat out misquoted.  That infamous quote that went viral last month where Kyrie said: "The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?"  ... got picked up by many major media outlets.  The problem... Kyrie never said that.  It was a paraphrasing by Keith Smith (a former fan from the RealGm forum that somehow "faked it until he made it" and is now an insider - many people have called a flat out hack) distilling a 8 minute conversation into a tweet.  At no point in that interview does Kyrie say "the young guys don't know what it takes to be a championship level team."  He says something that could be interpreted that way, but his greater point was that the team had been struggling to live up to expectations and part of that was a lack of experience playing - guys hanging their head after a bad play, guys not giving consistent effort, etc.  He was holding himself accountable as well and said he needed to be a better leader while subsequently saying that he believed in his teammates and knew they had the talent to beat everyone...

In listening to the full interview, there was nothing he said I could disagree with.  But, of course, it gets paraphrased in a click-bait tweet that suggests he's throwing his teammates under the bus - that gets 2000 retweets and gets picked up by numerous publications and then a few days later Kyrie has to issue an apology for something that he never even really said.

Well the thing is, everything you just said can be true and a reasonable person coud still believe that kyrie should stop talking. I think there has been a fair amount of what Kyrie has said taken out of context, but I think its inarguable at this point that he's also made way too many commenst about the young guys, or not knowing how to win, ect. Don't believe me? Just ask Kyrie. He himself admitted he has to do a better job empowering guys and not making stuff pubic.


That said I actlly like what he said after this game. No finger poitning, no compalning, just confidence in himself and teamates. Nothing wrong with that.

[LarBrd33]

I agree with him, but he really should let his play do the talking. Dude talks too much.

Not sure how his play isn't doing the talking. He's playing like a top 3 PG in the league

cool, he should hush then.

I don't agree with that.  His transparency and openness is part of what makes him such a hugely marketable talent.  The issue is less the stuff he says and more how it's presented on twitter and the NBA media circus.  If they stick a microphone in his face and ask him, "so how does the experience for the young guys here compare to when you were a young guy on the Cavs" and he responds by saying, "well it's totally different... I was playing on the oldest team in the league and everyone there was playing for a championship" I don't really hold Kyrie to blame if some attention-seeker twists that quote into Kyrie bashing his young teammates. 

I've been researching this stuff by actually taking the time to go back and listen to kyrie's full interviews in-context and it's shocking to me how often he's taken out of context or flat out misquoted.  That infamous quote that went viral last month where Kyrie said: "The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?"  ... got picked up by many major media outlets.  The problem... Kyrie never said that.  It was a paraphrasing by Keith Smith (a former fan from the RealGm forum that somehow "faked it until he made it" and is now an insider - many people have called a flat out hack) distilling a 8 minute conversation into a tweet.  At no point in that interview does Kyrie say "the young guys don't know what it takes to be a championship level team."  He says something that could be interpreted that way, but his greater point was that the team had been struggling to live up to expectations and part of that was a lack of experience playing - guys hanging their head after a bad play, guys not giving consistent effort, etc.  He was holding himself accountable as well and said he needed to be a better leader while subsequently saying that he believed in his teammates and knew they had the talent to beat everyone...

In listening to the full interview, there was nothing he said I could disagree with.  But, of course, it gets paraphrased in a click-bait tweet that suggests he's throwing his teammates under the bus - that gets 2000 retweets and gets picked up by numerous publications and then a few days later Kyrie has to issue an apology for something that he never even really said.

Well the thing is, everything you just said can be true and a reasonable person coud still believe that kyrie should stop talking. I think there has been a fair amount of what Kyrie has said taken out of context, but I think its inarguable at this point that he's also made way too many commenst about the young guys, or not knowing how to win, ect. Don't believe me? Just ask Kyrie. He himself admitted he has to do a better job empowering guys and not making stuff pubic.


That said I actlly like what he said after this game. No finger poitning, no compalning, just confidence in himself and teamates. Nothing wrong with that.

Celtics fans aren't use to this, because we've never had a modern NBA superstar.  KG qualified as a global superstar, but twitter didn't really take off until 2011 (when it finally reached 100 mil users... and then jumped to 300 mil users as of 2015).  Things like reddit weren't a thing during that 2008 championship run and that team never was hit with the type of adversity that this young squad is facing.  The entire landscape of how this league is covered and the whole 24/7 365 media giant it's become didn't really look like this even a few years ago.   

We're in new territory.  Fans are dissecting this stuff on a level that's previously unprecedented.   These guys are bigger celebrities than they've ever been.  All things considered, Kyrie's done a solid job carrying himself though he clearly wears his emotions on his sleeves and has expressed frustration...

But him giving the silent treatment to the media and refusing to discuss the team wouldn't be a good look.  His accessibility is a big reason why he's able to make 14+ million dollars in endorsement deals every year. 

That said, you can see he's learning lessons as this season progresses.  His comments tonight are exactly what you'd want him to say - and evidence he's growing as a leader and learning from his perceived mistakes. 

[Chris22]

We can beat anyone, if everybody's healthy.

We need Baynes right now.

[celtics4ever33]

This is hilarious.


To me this means nothing.

It doesnt seem like this team cares very much.......Kyrie Irving maybe confident and may be taking the load, but the reality is these guys dont care , and they don't look at him as a leader.

This is a waste of a year.

[keevsnick]

I agree with him, but he really should let his play do the talking. Dude talks too much.

Not sure how his play isn't doing the talking. He's playing like a top 3 PG in the league

cool, he should hush then.

I don't agree with that.  His transparency and openness is part of what makes him such a hugely marketable talent.  The issue is less the stuff he says and more how it's presented on twitter and the NBA media circus.  If they stick a microphone in his face and ask him, "so how does the experience for the young guys here compare to when you were a young guy on the Cavs" and he responds by saying, "well it's totally different... I was playing on the oldest team in the league and everyone there was playing for a championship" I don't really hold Kyrie to blame if some attention-seeker twists that quote into Kyrie bashing his young teammates. 

I've been researching this stuff by actually taking the time to go back and listen to kyrie's full interviews in-context and it's shocking to me how often he's taken out of context or flat out misquoted.  That infamous quote that went viral last month where Kyrie said: "The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the Finals?"  ... got picked up by many major media outlets.  The problem... Kyrie never said that.  It was a paraphrasing by Keith Smith (a former fan from the RealGm forum that somehow "faked it until he made it" and is now an insider - many people have called a flat out hack) distilling a 8 minute conversation into a tweet.  At no point in that interview does Kyrie say "the young guys don't know what it takes to be a championship level team."  He says something that could be interpreted that way, but his greater point was that the team had been struggling to live up to expectations and part of that was a lack of experience playing - guys hanging their head after a bad play, guys not giving consistent effort, etc.  He was holding himself accountable as well and said he needed to be a better leader while subsequently saying that he believed in his teammates and knew they had the talent to beat everyone...

In listening to the full interview, there was nothing he said I could disagree with.  But, of course, it gets paraphrased in a click-bait tweet that suggests he's throwing his teammates under the bus - that gets 2000 retweets and gets picked up by numerous publications and then a few days later Kyrie has to issue an apology for something that he never even really said.

Well the thing is, everything you just said can be true and a reasonable person coud still believe that kyrie should stop talking. I think there has been a fair amount of what Kyrie has said taken out of context, but I think its inarguable at this point that he's also made way too many commenst about the young guys, or not knowing how to win, ect. Don't believe me? Just ask Kyrie. He himself admitted he has to do a better job empowering guys and not making stuff pubic.


That said I actlly like what he said after this game. No finger poitning, no compalning, just confidence in himself and teamates. Nothing wrong with that.

Celtics fans aren't use to this, because we've never had a modern NBA superstar.  KG qualified as a global superstar, but twitter didn't really take off until 2011 (when it finally reached 100 mil users... and then jumped to 300 mil users as of 2015).  Things like reddit weren't a thing during that 2008 championship run and that team never was hit with the type of adversity that this young squad is facing.  The entire landscape of how this league is covered and the whole 24/7 365 media giant it's become didn't really look like this even a few years ago.   

We're in new territory.  Fans are dissecting this stuff on a level that's previously unprecedented.   These guys are bigger celebrities than they've ever been.  All things considered, Kyrie's done a solid job carrying himself though he clearly wears his emotions on his sleeves and has expressed frustration...

But him giving the silent treatment to the media and refusing to discuss the team wouldn't be a good look.  His accessibility is a big reason why he's able to make 14+ million dollars in endorsement deals every year. 

That said, you can see he's learning lessons as this season progresses.  His comments tonight are exactly what you'd want him to say - and evidence he's growing as a leader and learning from his perceived mistakes.

I don't think he has up to this point "done a solid job carrying himself," in fact I would very strongly disagree with that and I don't think I'm alone in that regard. What I will say is I don't blame him, he matured  in a very toxic environment in Cleveland between all the losing he did before Lebron, the owner being a clown, and Lebron's drama ect. So it is natural he would have some learning to do. And as you say it appears he is improving, at least in terms of these latest comments.

In addition  just to be clear I'm not sure how much all the percieved locker room disfunction has actually effected us. It was thought to be bad the first 20 games. Then we went on a run and I didn't hear anything about it. Then we lost 3 in a row and its back. Then we go on another mini streak. Then the LA games.  So is the locker room only a porblem every third week? Do we like each other soemtimes but not other times? I think its more likely that inconsistent play from veterans like Hayward (Bad--->Trending up) and Morris (good--->Tredning down) combined with young guys like Jaylen and Tatum making young guy mistakes (we forget guys on rookie contracts arent ususally huge plusses in terms of winning), combined with Terry being bad, Baynes missing a lot of time, and too mnay players abut at the same level leading to less defined roles hae all had a bigger impact than anything Kyrie has said this year.

[celtics4ever33]

He isn't growing as nothing. In other words, nothing he said means anything. They are just words.

It's how the team reacts and how much they are behind him. Everyone who plays a sport should knows this.

Everyone defending Irving saying why people blaming him are missing the entire point.

The point is are these guys going to play with Irving , are they caring enough to win. Sometimes it seems like they do , others it doesnt.

Kyrie can care all he wants, but if they are not behind him, then who cares?

[PhoSita]

That's the problem, Kyrie.  That's the problem.

[KGBirdBias]

He isn't growing as nothing. In other words, nothing he said means anything. They are just words.

It's how the team reacts and how much they are behind him. Everyone who plays a sport should knows this.

Everyone defending Irving saying why people blaming him are missing the entire point.

The point is are these guys going to play with Irving , are they caring enough to win. Sometimes it seems like they do , others it doesnt.

Kyrie can care all he wants, but if they are not behind him, then who cares?

THIS^^

They aren't behind him...period. They don't respond to him...let him walk.

[Green-18]

That's the problem, Kyrie.  That's the problem.

Are you implying that his comment is reflective of the entire teams attitude?  I can't really disagree with you if that's the case.  A sense of entitlement and lack of effort have been issues throughout the season.  That being said, I find Kyrie's comments more interesting when you compare them to his recent media controversies.  There was zero criticism of teammates and a certain calmness to his demeanor.  Maybe Kyrie realizes that he's put himself in a spot where he needs to accept all of the pressure.  It's also possible that there's a confidence issue with certain players in the locker room. 

I really don't mind what Kyrie said last night.  At the end of the day it's Brad's job to motivate the team and make the proper adjustments.  Kyrie's best approach is to reflect confidence and reassurance to the rest of his teammates.  Most importantly, he needs to stay consistent with it for the rest of the season.  The random diatribe's need to be a thing of the past.

[Birdman]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[Birdman]

Morris has fallen off big time lately...Hayward still is bout 40%..Baynes injured all the time..3 point shooting and rebounding is awful..wish we got Katner..or Melo 😜

[GreenFaith1819]

Kyrie is right - on both accounts.

As for the Bulls loss - "The sun shines on a dog's behind some days."

It shone brightly on the Bulls last night.