the latest example of the Kyrie Irving Effect is on full display in Dallas
[Nah, it’s the PJ Tucker Experience and the Kyle Lowry Effect]
It's the losing that for almost six years has defined Irving, his teams, and those organizations that have learned, too late, that what feels alluring and desired from a distance becomes up close a slow-moving, organizational disaster movie.
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Case in point: The Mavs' disastrous 24 games since acquiring Irving at the trade deadline.
Dallas is 8-16 over that stretch. …only four teams have worse records over that span: The Pistons, Rockets, and Spurs -- the three worst teams in the league -- and the Trail Blazers, who recently shut down Damian Lillard. [And have Nusuf Jurkic]
Dallas is a shocking 4-11 when Doncic and Irving play together. That's atrocious, and all this losing since trading for the mercurial star has taken Dallas from sixth place in the West when Irving was with Brooklyn to 11th now that he's with Dallas. His arrival, and what we've seen so far, has tanked SportsLine's odds for the Mavs to make the playoffs from 58% to 6%.
This is the Kyrie Irving Effect. And it's been like this for a long time.
In terms of his team's winning percentages, over the last five seasons, Kyrie's clubs were either just as good or better when he was not on the floor. Before this season's trade, Brooklyn won 60% of the games in which Kyrie appeared, but it won 67% of the games he sat.
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The Kyrie Irving Effect can be measured in the math. But it can also be seen from 10,000 feet, where a clear picture of destruction and dysfunction has come into full view.
Kyrie Irving is a mess for teams, and a walking avatar of just how incredibly difficult it is to build an NBA winner. Because he should win. He just doesn't.
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… There is massive pressure in the NBA to win, and I've sat with front office executives who have made compelling cases that Irving is not good for a team ... only in the next breath, after the stories and anecdotes and grimaces, to say they'd take him in a heartbeat if given the chance.
[I actually think this is a bit overdone by Bill Reiter for CBS. Bed Bugs has a bone in his brain, but as far as I know he has been on his best behavior in Dallas. The Fat Cuban Horse is experiencing a reversion to the mean this season like the "Heat" is. Phoenix is having a down season. Some Association teams are like accordions for some reason. I don't think Bed Bugs is the reason d sucks, but I would love to think that! lol]
