Irving lost his shit in Boston's loss to Orlando Saturday. Started bitching on the floor to Gordon Hayward for not passing the ball where Irving thought it should go, apparently to him. He has criticized coach Brad Stevens' offense.
After the Orlando loss and a loss to Toronto last night Irving had an epiphany, more clear thinking that could be expected from someone who believes the earth is flat. He realized he had been a petulant ass with James in Cleveland and when he forced the trade to Boston. So he called LBJ to apologize:
"Obviously, this was a big deal for me, because I had to call [LeBron] and tell him I apologized for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips, and I wanted everything at my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to a championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that, and the responsibility of being the best in the world and leading your team is something that is not meant for many people.
"[LeBron] was one of those guys who came to Cleveland and tried to show us how to win a championship, and it was hard for him, and sometimes getting the most out of the group is not the easiest thing in the world.
"Experience. We're [Boston] lacking it, and because of that, we have a lot of learning to do. I did a poor job of setting an example for these guys of what it's like to get something out of your teammates. You go and you say something publicly, and it ends up received in so many different ways, and you never know how fragile or what guys are going through when you say things like that. You're expecting results, but at the same time, I should've kept it in-house. Going forward, I want to test these young guys, but I can't be a bully like that. I want to get the best out of them, but I can't do it personally like that. That was a learning experience for me of being in this position of really realizing the magnitude of my voice and what I really mean to these guys. I want to see them do well and do that where I empowered them.
"[Jaylen] was right. I gotta do the right things and not point fingers at individuals and really realize what we can do as [a] group, despite when we go on the road or the mishaps we may have. I've been there to the championship. I've tasted it. But I can't expect that they're gonna get it. I'm just really working on my patience and just coming to helping these guys realize that we can do it against the best teams. But in order to be that championship-level team, we gotta do that every single day to help our team prove to not just the Raptors or Golden State that we can play with them, but we gotta prove it to every team that we can really play with them.
"Like I said, only few are meant for it or chosen for it, and I feel like the best person to call was him, because he's been in this situation. He's been there with me. I've been the young guy, being a 22-year-old kid, and I want everything. I want everything right now. Coming off an All-Star year starting, and this heck of a presence is coming back, and now I gotta adjust my game to this guy.
"You take it personal, but at the end of the day, he wants what's best. And he has a legacy he wants to leave, and he has a window he wants to capture. So I think what that brought me back to was like, all right, how do I get the best out of this group to the success they had last year and then helping them realize what it takes to win a championship.
"Being in this position is something new for me. So I take it with a grain of salt, and I just enjoy all of this. So having that moment to be able to call a guy like that where we've been through so much, where we won a championship together ... it took a lot.
"Now I'm in this position. I asked for this, and I want this. I want the responsibility. And I take it on full force. But it's also good to reach out for help and really take responsibility for what you've done in your career. It takes a real man to go back, call somebody and be like, 'Hey, man, I was young. I made some mistakes. I wasn't seeing the big picture like you were. I didn't have the end of the season in mind.' I just wanted to get my stats and make All-Star Games, which in his career means like this much at that point. So it was just good, and it gave me a peace of mind to go about what I've gotta go do. Obviously, I'm going to be competing against him the best and everybody else in the league. But it was good."
It was a full confession. I cannot imagine that there is anything more that Irving could say. It was the War and Peace of the confessional genre. Irving's confession reaffirms LeBron's greatness.
I cannot end this account of Irving's acknowledgment of LeBron's greatness on a happy note. I feel strongly about LeBron's greatness but sadly, painfully, I feel strongly that LeBron's quest for greatest-ness must needs fail. Much as I am in awe of his talent, even more so his intelligence, I am most in awe of his goodness as a man.
As strongly as I feel about LeBron's greatness and his goodness I know... I know of the dark side of LeBron's impact on the game. He quits. He quit on Cleveland against Boston in 2010; he quit on Miami in a Final's game against San Antonio in 2014. He sabotaged Isaiah Thomas by miming playing defense deliberately to expose Thomas' defensive liabilities. He let the other team score against his own.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: LeBron throws games, he throws plays within games, he allows opposing teams to score and to win in order to make his points: that Cleveland I did not have the talent ever to win an NBA championship; that Miami could not retool and win another championship after the 2014 evisceration by San Antonio; that Cleveland II could not win another title with Isaiah Thomas. LeBron was right in all three cases but he crossed the boldest, most ominous red line in team sports to prove himself right: he threw plays and he threw games. He did it as surely and as deftly as if a bookie had paid him to do it. He didn't do it for that reason but it doesn't matter your motivation when you throw plays and throw games. Those are capital offenses in sport no matter what your motivation. A person with capital sports homicides in his background can never be considered the greatest in his sport.
After the Orlando loss and a loss to Toronto last night Irving had an epiphany, more clear thinking that could be expected from someone who believes the earth is flat. He realized he had been a petulant ass with James in Cleveland and when he forced the trade to Boston. So he called LBJ to apologize:
"Obviously, this was a big deal for me, because I had to call [LeBron] and tell him I apologized for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips, and I wanted everything at my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to a championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that, and the responsibility of being the best in the world and leading your team is something that is not meant for many people.
"[LeBron] was one of those guys who came to Cleveland and tried to show us how to win a championship, and it was hard for him, and sometimes getting the most out of the group is not the easiest thing in the world.
"Experience. We're [Boston] lacking it, and because of that, we have a lot of learning to do. I did a poor job of setting an example for these guys of what it's like to get something out of your teammates. You go and you say something publicly, and it ends up received in so many different ways, and you never know how fragile or what guys are going through when you say things like that. You're expecting results, but at the same time, I should've kept it in-house. Going forward, I want to test these young guys, but I can't be a bully like that. I want to get the best out of them, but I can't do it personally like that. That was a learning experience for me of being in this position of really realizing the magnitude of my voice and what I really mean to these guys. I want to see them do well and do that where I empowered them.
"[Jaylen] was right. I gotta do the right things and not point fingers at individuals and really realize what we can do as [a] group, despite when we go on the road or the mishaps we may have. I've been there to the championship. I've tasted it. But I can't expect that they're gonna get it. I'm just really working on my patience and just coming to helping these guys realize that we can do it against the best teams. But in order to be that championship-level team, we gotta do that every single day to help our team prove to not just the Raptors or Golden State that we can play with them, but we gotta prove it to every team that we can really play with them.
"Like I said, only few are meant for it or chosen for it, and I feel like the best person to call was him, because he's been in this situation. He's been there with me. I've been the young guy, being a 22-year-old kid, and I want everything. I want everything right now. Coming off an All-Star year starting, and this heck of a presence is coming back, and now I gotta adjust my game to this guy.
"You take it personal, but at the end of the day, he wants what's best. And he has a legacy he wants to leave, and he has a window he wants to capture. So I think what that brought me back to was like, all right, how do I get the best out of this group to the success they had last year and then helping them realize what it takes to win a championship.
"Being in this position is something new for me. So I take it with a grain of salt, and I just enjoy all of this. So having that moment to be able to call a guy like that where we've been through so much, where we won a championship together ... it took a lot.
"Now I'm in this position. I asked for this, and I want this. I want the responsibility. And I take it on full force. But it's also good to reach out for help and really take responsibility for what you've done in your career. It takes a real man to go back, call somebody and be like, 'Hey, man, I was young. I made some mistakes. I wasn't seeing the big picture like you were. I didn't have the end of the season in mind.' I just wanted to get my stats and make All-Star Games, which in his career means like this much at that point. So it was just good, and it gave me a peace of mind to go about what I've gotta go do. Obviously, I'm going to be competing against him the best and everybody else in the league. But it was good."
It was a full confession. I cannot imagine that there is anything more that Irving could say. It was the War and Peace of the confessional genre. Irving's confession reaffirms LeBron's greatness.
I cannot end this account of Irving's acknowledgment of LeBron's greatness on a happy note. I feel strongly about LeBron's greatness but sadly, painfully, I feel strongly that LeBron's quest for greatest-ness must needs fail. Much as I am in awe of his talent, even more so his intelligence, I am most in awe of his goodness as a man.
As strongly as I feel about LeBron's greatness and his goodness I know... I know of the dark side of LeBron's impact on the game. He quits. He quit on Cleveland against Boston in 2010; he quit on Miami in a Final's game against San Antonio in 2014. He sabotaged Isaiah Thomas by miming playing defense deliberately to expose Thomas' defensive liabilities. He let the other team score against his own.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: LeBron throws games, he throws plays within games, he allows opposing teams to score and to win in order to make his points: that Cleveland I did not have the talent ever to win an NBA championship; that Miami could not retool and win another championship after the 2014 evisceration by San Antonio; that Cleveland II could not win another title with Isaiah Thomas. LeBron was right in all three cases but he crossed the boldest, most ominous red line in team sports to prove himself right: he threw plays and he threw games. He did it as surely and as deftly as if a bookie had paid him to do it. He didn't do it for that reason but it doesn't matter your motivation when you throw plays and throw games. Those are capital offenses in sport no matter what your motivation. A person with capital sports homicides in his background can never be considered the greatest in his sport.
