Great words Roy. Much respect.
I also don't understand the bashing.
As Lar said - it might be a defensive mechanism regarding Kyrie.
But if you take a wide shot of him he did since his trade demand from Cleveland, I can see that he does bleed green:
- Dismantled our biggest rivals of the last decade for good (Cleveland and Lebron).
- Adapted to Stevens, and he respects him.
- Improved his biggest weakness - defense.
- Gave us a closer we needed.
- Dives on the floor even though he is often times the most talented player on the floor. That's not as usual as some might think.
- Took an Alpha role, as he rightfully should. There is/was a big hole there.
- Said he loves it here and that he will resign.
- is prying AD here.
- Raises Boston off his chest when he hits a big shot.
- Is trying to be humble and available, even if he is not perfect at his execution, I find that very sympathetic. Kind of like a kid who is in love but doesn't know how to approach his dear. So he learns by mistakes.
And one more observation.
There has been a tremendous amount of Kyrie stories, almost every day you see a new one. I explain it as: It is so as he is magnetic and fans dissect him. They can't get enough. They dissect cause they care.
You won't see Lillard or Kemba getting the same treatment. They are good but not Kyrie by this standard.