During a sit-down interview with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, Mark Cuban admitted that he thought Kyrie Irving was a "team killer" prior to doing his homework. Before executing a trade for the star guard, Cuban concluded that this was far from the truth, and all the Dallas Mavericks had to do was "just let Ky be Ky."
After asking out of Cleveland, Irving had a short stint in Boston followed by a controversial stay in Brooklyn. In Dallas he has been nothing but a true professional.
"When you talked to players, they love him. Nobody had a bad word to say about Kyrie that ever stepped on the court," said Cuban. "To me, that was all we needed to know, and then from there, you say what went wrong in Boston, what went wrong in Brooklyn. A lot of that is maturity, but a lot of it was circumstances, too. How often is COVID going to hit and lead to those circumstances."
The reality is that Irving is just a misunderstood player by some fans. People within NBA locker rooms know that he is a caring teammate who wants the best for everyone around him.
"Ky is the dude that is sitting there talking about world peace. Why aren't we fixing this? How do we end hunger? He has got a heart of gold. He has a huge heart, and he wants to help people," said Cuban.
On the court Irving is a hooper to the tenth degree. As one of the most skilled players to ever touch a basketball, no one questions his greatness on the court. His outside interests sometimes rub some people the wrong way, but when looking closer, he is simply a deep thinker with other aspirations separate from the game itself.
"He was like Mark, I just want to be myself, lead the way I want to lead, and be creative, and he found a great deal, and he has been making it work. If you notice the deals he has signed since he has come to us, there are no problems," said Cuban.
Kyrie Irving will be Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks' willingness to let him be his true self is the primary reason their partnership has been so successful.
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