David Ballard
Jul 23, 2017 · 2 min read
  1. I don’t blame Kyrie at all. I’ve got nothing at all against LBJ and think he’s the best ever, but I am pretty tired of him and I don’t have to be his underling every day.
  2. It is my opinion that Kyrie Irving is as good a player as there is in the league. The only PG I’d rather have than him is Chris Paul, and I wouldn’t trade Kyrie for him straight up right now because Kyrie is young and Chris is not. More than anything, he is absolutely fearless in taking crucial shots and is far better than most at deserving the prerogative to take them. I remember the first time I saw him: Coming in late in an NCAA tournament game — as a freshman who had been injured and had not played since early in the season — to win the game on an improbable last second shot off the backboard (one we see from him every game now). Whoa, I remember thinking; either that was lucky or this guy is something. The replays showed it was not luck. Kyrie’s NBA career has showed it was not luck.
  3. Kyrie’s self-awareness is impressive. Look at his quotes. He admits to feeling that it is selfish to want to be the face of the franchise and not just the number two to the greatest of all time for one chapter of the latter’s career. That is something many people feel in their careers in some way or another — am I trading the chance to be myself or to be someone with greater impact or whatever for comfort and security? Yet few in the spotlight not only share but analyze as well as he has, several times in the article above.
  4. He’ll be a top player wherever he goes. He’s no Stephon Marbury and he’s way better than Scottie Pippen ever would have been without MJ.
    David Ballard

    Written by

    Older white guy with many of the traits of that demographic