VERY concerned about Irving's attitude

[BringToughnessBack]

Hard to fault a player who wanted off the Lebron show. Unlike many great teams of past, the Cavs will always be remembered as Lebron's team while 2007 Celtics, 86 Celtics, 80's Laker Teams will always be remembered as great teams with great players, not one player's team. It sounds to me like Kyrie is craving the team environment and what better place for him to become immortalized and not be a footnote on Lebron's team.

The fact that he had enough of Lebron endears me to him even more. The fact that he wanted to play for a great coach endears me to him more. The fact that he mentioned those in need during his presser, endears me to him more. I am now more excited than ever for the next 10 years for our team. Concerned about his attitude is as far as possible from my list of things to be concerned about in this world.

[cltc5]

Rather him talk selfish then play selfish like IT

[Donoghus]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

[PickNRoll]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

Extremely well-spoken?!  Here's a transcript of his first comment.  I didn't omit any words, but it reads as though I have.  He has an almost Trump-like quality to his speech, darting from one idea to another, omitting words seemingly at random, mixing idioms and inventing new uses for words.

Now, mind you, I don't give two $hit$ about the manner of his speech and I'm not playing grammar police.  He was hired to get buckets and he's one of the best in the world at his job. I'm sure he was nervous too.  But I would not say he's "extremely well-spoken".  I think he should stay away from the mic.    Here's the exact quote:

Q: You said that you want to maximize your potential.  Why do you feel that Boston could be that place for you?

First and foremost, before we get into that question, before we get dive into the importance of why we're all here, I just want appreciate everyone up here on this stage and the opportunity that's in front of us to go after something that's bigger than ourselves, but before we get to that I just want to say that sometimes we get lost into these two hoops and it's basketball that the most humane things that make us human we lose track of sometimes and I want to take a timeout to, you know, wish my well energy and heartfelt to Jae Crowder and his mother because that's a hard situation to go through, especially when he gets wrapped up in all this, as well as I.T.'s sister and as well as those affected in Charlottesville and those affected in Houston.  That is all reality-based and I live in that world.  In this basketball me perfecting my craft is very important to me, but outside of this game I live a very much real life and I appreciate the people around me as we as all the human beings I end up meeting and I just wanted to come out and say that -- that my appreciation for the world goes deeper than I think a lot of people realize and I take my respects for all those people as well as everyone affected by anything, you know.  We're all here with you and my prayers are with you so... now that I said that, now that I could officially move on to answering that. 

[CelticsElite]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

Extremely well-spoken?!  Here's a transcript of his first comment.  I didn't omit any words, but it reads as though I have.  He has an almost Trump-like quality to his speech, darting from one idea to another, omitting words seemingly at random, mixing idioms and inventing new uses for words.

Now, mind you, I don't give two $hit$ about the manner of his speech and I'm not playing grammar police.  He was hired to get buckets and he's one of the best in the world at his job. I'm sure he was nervous too.  But I would not say he's "extremely well-spoken".  I think he should stay away from the mic.    Here's the exact quote:

Q: You said that you want to maximize your potential.  Why do you feel that Boston could be that place for you?

First and foremost, before we get into that question, before we get dive into the importance of why we're all here, I just want appreciate everyone up here on this stage and the opportunity that's in front of us to go after something that's bigger than ourselves, but before we get to that I just want to say that sometimes we get lost into these two hoops and it's basketball that the most humane things that make us human we lose track of sometimes and I want to take a timeout to, you know, wish my well energy and heartfelt to Jae Crowder and his mother because that's a hard situation to go through, especially when he gets wrapped up in all this, as well as I.T.'s sister and as well as those affected in Charlottesville and those affected in Houston.  That is all reality-based and I live in that world.  In this basketball me perfecting my craft is very important to me, but outside of this game I live a very much real life and I appreciate the people around me as we as all the human beings I end up meeting and I just wanted to come out and say that -- that my appreciation for the world goes deeper than I think a lot of people realize and I take my respects for all those people as well as everyone affected by anything, you know.  We're all here with you and my prayers are with you so... now that I said that, now that I could officially move on to answering that. 

he's not extremely well spoken in the general sense
But compared to other nba players, he is extremely well spoken. Have you seen the mumblers in the league

[PickNRoll]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

Extremely well-spoken?!  Here's a transcript of his first comment.  I didn't omit any words, but it reads as though I have.  He has an almost Trump-like quality to his speech, darting from one idea to another, omitting words seemingly at random, mixing idioms and inventing new uses for words.

Now, mind you, I don't give two $hit$ about the manner of his speech and I'm not playing grammar police.  He was hired to get buckets and he's one of the best in the world at his job. I'm sure he was nervous too.  But I would not say he's "extremely well-spoken".  I think he should stay away from the mic.    Here's the exact quote:

Q: You said that you want to maximize your potential.  Why do you feel that Boston could be that place for you?

First and foremost, before we get into that question, before we get dive into the importance of why we're all here, I just want appreciate everyone up here on this stage and the opportunity that's in front of us to go after something that's bigger than ourselves, but before we get to that I just want to say that sometimes we get lost into these two hoops and it's basketball that the most humane things that make us human we lose track of sometimes and I want to take a timeout to, you know, wish my well energy and heartfelt to Jae Crowder and his mother because that's a hard situation to go through, especially when he gets wrapped up in all this, as well as I.T.'s sister and as well as those affected in Charlottesville and those affected in Houston.  That is all reality-based and I live in that world.  In this basketball me perfecting my craft is very important to me, but outside of this game I live a very much real life and I appreciate the people around me as we as all the human beings I end up meeting and I just wanted to come out and say that -- that my appreciation for the world goes deeper than I think a lot of people realize and I take my respects for all those people as well as everyone affected by anything, you know.  We're all here with you and my prayers are with you so... now that I said that, now that I could officially move on to answering that. 

he's not extremely well spoken in the general sense
But compared to other nba players, he is extremely well spoken. Have you seen the mumblers in the league

He speaks into the microphone.  He's audible.  He enunciates and you can identify the words that come out of his mouth.  The words don't form coherent sentences.  Is that our standard for "extremely well-spoken"?

[Boris Badenov]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

Extremely well-spoken?!  Here's a transcript of his first comment.  I didn't omit any words, but it reads as though I have.  He has an almost Trump-like quality to his speech, darting from one idea to another, omitting words seemingly at random, mixing idioms and inventing new uses for words.

Now, mind you, I don't give two $hit$ about the manner of his speech and I'm not playing grammar police.  He was hired to get buckets and he's one of the best in the world at his job. I'm sure he was nervous too.  But I would not say he's "extremely well-spoken".  I think he should stay away from the mic.    Here's the exact quote:

Q: You said that you want to maximize your potential.  Why do you feel that Boston could be that place for you?

First and foremost, before we get into that question, before we get dive into the importance of why we're all here, I just want appreciate everyone up here on this stage and the opportunity that's in front of us to go after something that's bigger than ourselves, but before we get to that I just want to say that sometimes we get lost into these two hoops and it's basketball that the most humane things that make us human we lose track of sometimes and I want to take a timeout to, you know, wish my well energy and heartfelt to Jae Crowder and his mother because that's a hard situation to go through, especially when he gets wrapped up in all this, as well as I.T.'s sister and as well as those affected in Charlottesville and those affected in Houston.  That is all reality-based and I live in that world.  In this basketball me perfecting my craft is very important to me, but outside of this game I live a very much real life and I appreciate the people around me as we as all the human beings I end up meeting and I just wanted to come out and say that -- that my appreciation for the world goes deeper than I think a lot of people realize and I take my respects for all those people as well as everyone affected by anything, you know.  We're all here with you and my prayers are with you so... now that I said that, now that I could officially move on to answering that. 

he's not extremely well spoken in the general sense
But compared to other nba players, he is extremely well spoken. Have you seen the mumblers in the league

He speaks into the microphone.  He's audible.  He enunciates and you can identify the words that come out of his mouth.  The words don't form coherent sentences.  Is that our standard for "extremely well-spoken"?

Without taking sides or trying to derail things, I'm just going to point out that we have a debate here about whether an NBA player with one year of college education should be considered a coherent public speaker or a rambling mess...and a reference point in the discussion is the current President of the United States.

Carry on.

[Roy H.]

Rather him talk selfish then play selfish like IT

You're going to be in for a surprise.

[Celtics4ever]

You're going to be in for a surprise.

If a guy can put the ball in the hole I don't mind if he is selfish.  He shot .47% from the field, 40% from the three and over 90% from the line,  last year.  That is the kind of guy you want taking shots, no?

You probably know more about Irving than I given I only watch the Cavs when they play us.   This is odd coming from a guy from Ohio but the C's are my team.  I hope he buys into the system.

[green_bballers13]

Rather him talk selfish then play selfish like IT

You're going to be in for a surprise.

What does that mean?

Do you have insider info on Kyrie Irving? What do you know that the rest of the basketball viewers around here don't know?

His past should have very little to do with his future, considering that he is coming to a team where he is expected to be a floor general and leader. This was not the expectation in Cleveland.

Lebron James has an effect on teams. He undoubtedly makes them better, but also changes the chemistry- for better and worse.

[Dino Pitino]

Extremely well-spoken?!  Here's a transcript of his first comment.  I didn't omit any words, but it reads as though I have.  He has an almost Trump-like quality to his speech, darting from one idea to another, omitting words seemingly at random, mixing idioms and inventing new uses for words.

He speaks into the microphone.  He's audible.  He enunciates and you can identify the words that come out of his mouth.  The words don't form coherent sentences.  Is that our standard for "extremely well-spoken"?

Thank god someone else noticed. He's somehow both eloquent and incoherent at the same time. Bits of eloquence incoherently pieced together.

[green_bballers13]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

Extremely well-spoken?!  Here's a transcript of his first comment.  I didn't omit any words, but it reads as though I have.  He has an almost Trump-like quality to his speech, darting from one idea to another, omitting words seemingly at random, mixing idioms and inventing new uses for words.

Now, mind you, I don't give two $hit$ about the manner of his speech and I'm not playing grammar police.  He was hired to get buckets and he's one of the best in the world at his job. I'm sure he was nervous too.  But I would not say he's "extremely well-spoken".  I think he should stay away from the mic.    Here's the exact quote:

Q: You said that you want to maximize your potential.  Why do you feel that Boston could be that place for you?

First and foremost, before we get into that question, before we get dive into the importance of why we're all here, I just want appreciate everyone up here on this stage and the opportunity that's in front of us to go after something that's bigger than ourselves, but before we get to that I just want to say that sometimes we get lost into these two hoops and it's basketball that the most humane things that make us human we lose track of sometimes and I want to take a timeout to, you know, wish my well energy and heartfelt to Jae Crowder and his mother because that's a hard situation to go through, especially when he gets wrapped up in all this, as well as I.T.'s sister and as well as those affected in Charlottesville and those affected in Houston.  That is all reality-based and I live in that world.  In this basketball me perfecting my craft is very important to me, but outside of this game I live a very much real life and I appreciate the people around me as we as all the human beings I end up meeting and I just wanted to come out and say that -- that my appreciation for the world goes deeper than I think a lot of people realize and I take my respects for all those people as well as everyone affected by anything, you know.  We're all here with you and my prayers are with you so... now that I said that, now that I could officially move on to answering that. 

he's not extremely well spoken in the general sense
But compared to other nba players, he is extremely well spoken. Have you seen the mumblers in the league

He speaks into the microphone.  He's audible.  He enunciates and you can identify the words that come out of his mouth.  The words don't form coherent sentences.  Is that our standard for "extremely well-spoken"?

Are you using the little cut that you provided as evidence that he can't form coherent sentences? If so, yikes. Your deductive reasoning might need work. You can't use one snippet to say that he can't put together a coherent sentence. You should use the entirety of the presser. Most people here would disagree with your premise.

I thought that his answers, in general, were well thought out. At the same time, why does any of this matter? If he scores 30 ppg this year, do you think anyone will care about what he said in August?

[GetLucky]

Kyrie is certainly no Magic Johnson when he talks, but he is certainly no Donald Trump, either. Trump rambles until he gets to a talking point, something that he knows will elicit a response. He rambles uncreatively and without thought (usually with an overt tone-deafness) until he gets to what he sees as the main point. People like Magic talk about whatever the heck they want to talk about, and they do it with such thoughtfulness and charisma that you can't help but love it. Kyrie was a sort of in-between. He understood what type of response he should have given, but he didn't necessarily convey that response correctly. He wove in some unnecessary clichés and had a few awkward moments where he tried to play the "awkwardly and endearingly laughs" card but didn't set it up correctly.

Kyrie is not really well-spoken in the truest sense of the term. He does ramble, showing depth of thought but not necessarily the attention or awareness necessary to articulate himself in a direct, understandable manner. His heart is clearly in the right place, which goes a long way, but his cadence and quick change of subject limits him from being a next-level communicator.

Kyrie is clearly thoughtful. His pronunciation of words is fantastic, he doesn't mumble, and he can clearly understand the mood of a room. His head was in the right place with respect to the undertone of all of his answers. He's definitely a thinker, someone who tries to put things in perspective and who isn't the stereotypical "dumb jock" or single-obsessed person who is only concerned with basketball. That goes a long way both in life and as the face of an organization.

I actually think Kyrie's praise for Brad Stevens was pretty indicative of the type of thinker Kyrie is. He talked about how Stevens understood the "flow" of a game- its ups-and-downs- and how Stevens could correctly position his team to precipitate and take advantage of the highs and mitigate and weather the lows. However, he didn't really convey his point well. Kyrie's admiration for Stevens and inherent understanding of how to run a basketball game was clear by the look in his eyes and his tone of voice, but he couldn't capture imaginations with his sentences.

All in all, I came away from the press conference thinking that Kyrie is definitely capable of assuming a "floor general" type role. He's not yet a LeBron or Magic level leader that can elevate a team every day by breaking things down for teammates from point guard through center, but he clearly naturally understands and is mentally capable of running at team and a game. I think taking that next step mentally and imposing his will on a game on a consistent basis is the evolution Kyrie thinks he can take that he would have never been able to do while playing with LeBron. Hopefully Brad can take Kyrie's natural talent and mold him into the all-around killer point guard that he and Danny think he can be.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Kyrie Irving spent most of his microphone time at today's intro presser talking about HIS potential, HIS goals as a player, HIS desire to be in a situation conducive to HIS development as an elite player, how the trade request was not even about basketball but about HIS evolution and HIS own personal peace (whatever that is supposed to mean).

I have never liked this guy's vibe and I don't like it now. He sounds so focused on himself and  what the trade means for HIM. Where were the comments about "potential he saw in the team", "goals that the team could aspire to", "I want to fill whatever role Coach Stevens needs in order to get this team to a title", "Here are the ways I believe I can help this team win", heck, maybe even a comment about the opportunity to play for the greatest franchise in the NBA.

No - Irving just couldn't stop talking about HIMSELF.

Is Coach Stevens strong enough to require Irving to keep the ball moving on offense and not to dribble the shot clock away ? Is Coach Stevens strong enough to require this guy to play defense ? I have not seen much from Stevens to persuade me that he will stand up to a selfish player. He has had a hard enough time reigning in bad habits from players who care a great deal about team chemistry - Now, he has to deal with this headcase.

Something about this guy keeps reminding me of Sidney Wicks.

ya know how I know you DID NOT ACTUALLY WATCH THE PRESSER??? huh?

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Nothing from that press conference indicated to me a level of selfishness that is troublesome.

Reporters were posing questions DIRECTED AT IRVING!  What was the guy supposed to do?

I thought he was extremely well spoken.  I particularly enjoyed how he started off things with his "real world" comments and his admiration for his new teammates & coaching staff. 

Saw zero red flags yesterday.

THANK YOU!