This is why Kyrie Irving is not a good leader

When LeBron announced that he was going to go back to Cleveland in 2014, no one would’ve been happier than Kyrie Irving. The young point guard had just finished his 3rd season with the Cavaliers and although Irving had been spectacular, Cleveland never finished above 33 wins in the regular season in that span.

With The King back in town, Cleveland vaulted to the top of the East and the top of the NBA, reaching the Finals in 2015 and winning the title in 2016. After losing the Finals against the Warriors with Kevin Durant in 2017, Irving asked for a trade and was dealt to the Boston Celtics. 

After all his experience with LeBron and winning, it was expected that Irving (who was still only 25 at the time) would be able to lead the young Celtics back to serious title-contention. He managed to lead the Celtics to 55 wins in 2017/18 but missed the entire post-season due to an injury to his knee. The next season was a disappointment. Boston didn’t manage to increase their win total (they won 49 games) and was dispatched in 5 games by the Milwaukee Bucks led by MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.  

All throughout his time in Boston, questions plagued Irving on his leadership abilities. In July before the blockbuster trade which sent Irving to Boston, Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that Irving wanted to “play in a situation where he can be more of a focal point”. Kyrie wanted to have an expanded role with a team, and with LeBron in Cleveland that wasn’t going to happen with the Cavs.

Kyrie ended up leaving Boston after only 2 seasons and signed for the Brooklyn Nets and his time with the Celtics is not considered a success. Brooklyn had won 42 games the season prior to Irving joining and looked like a young team ready to make the jump towards being a serious force in the Eastern Conference. However, when this season stopped due to Covid-19, the Nets were only 30-34 and didn’t look as cohesive as last season.

It seems as though wherever Irving is playing, if he’s expected to be the leader then the team will struggle, and here’s why I think that is.

Injuries

The biggest tragedy is sports if when a player doesn’t live up to his potential because of injuries. The number of players that were touted to be great but in the end amounted to not much because of injuries is staggering. Players like Greg Oden, Ralph Sampson, Brandon Roy, Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill are just a few on a very long list of great players taken down by injuries over the years.

Thankfully nothing that serious has happened to Irving so far in his career, but he keeps picking up knocks here and there that are hampering his ability to lead his team. He only played 20 games this past season before having season-ending shoulder surgery. He only played 67 games in the 2018/19 season and 60 games in the season before that. It doesn’t matter how good of a leader you are, if you aren’t on the floor with your guys then there’s nothing you can do. Irving keeps picking up injuries to the point where it’s become clear that he is just very injury-prone. 

Scoring vs leading

I hate to blunt about this, but Kyrie Irving is not a natural leader. 

He doesn’t have that feel of how to read situations and people so that he can help his teammates (and therefore himself) overcome adverse situations. This was highlighted when after a close loss to the Orlando Magic in January 2019, Irving viciously called out his teammates saying “guys don’t know what it takes to a championship level team”. This is something you just do not do if you are the leader of a roster. Any problems you have you deal with them behind closed doors with the relevant people, you don’t go to the media.

Irving didn’t understand that he was once that inexperienced player and it was LeBron showing him how to win that elevated Kyrie’s game. Kyrie wasn’t doing for the young Celtics what LeBron James had done for him.

Kyrie Irving is one of the best offensive players in the NBA. He is a great shooter from the outside, is an incredible finisher at the rim and probably has the greatest handles in NBA history. His ability to create his own shot is one of the best we’ve seen in a long time. In 2 full Finals series against the Golden-State Warriors, Irving averaged 28.3 points on 47% from the floor, 41.2% from 3 and 92% from the free-throw line.

He is best suited when he doesn’t have to focus on leading the team and can concentrate on breaking down opposing defenses, something he does incredibly well. He is a devastatingly potent weapon that can be sent out to score at any level. You love to have him as something in your arsenal, but you don’t want him to lead your team. This isn’t an insult against Irving, it’s just how he’s built. He can’t change who he is deep-down, and that’s ok. In life we should all play to our strengths and try to avoid situations where our weaknesses are exploited.

It’s the same for Irving.

I’m very interested to see what happens when Durant comes back. KD hasn’t been known as a great leader so far in his career. It was mainly Westbrook and other veterans that led when Durant was with OKC and it was Draymond with the Warriors. Durant is the best player for the Nets and has 2 titles and 2 Finals MVPs to his name. He has the experience Brooklyn will need if they are to be a serious contender going forward.

If Kyrie is to maximize his potential for the rest of his career then he needs to realize that it is not in his best interest to try and lead the team. If he does this his team will always falter, especially when it comes to the Playoffs. He should give up that leadership role to those more suited and focus on being the offensive dynamo that can score on any defender the NBA has to offer.