There is one player in the NBA that is a constant talking point around the league.
More so for what he does off the court, than what he does on it.
But, that player is Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving.
The Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks agreed to a blockbuster trade on Sunday that sent Irving to Dallas.
The all-star made it clear he wanted to be traded from Brooklyn, and they got rid of him very quickly.
One person that has been very vocal about Irving is ESPN analyst Stephen A Smith.
He is known for being very animated about many topics, and Irving is one of them.
On Monday, Smith and Jay Williams got into a confrontation that made for some interesting TV.
Serious sparks are flying between Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams over Kyrie Irving pic.twitter.com/Cp7MaSeTQD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 6, 2023
There seems to be something between Smith and Williams that goes beyond just this conversation.
Williams seems to be upset at what Stephen A has said in the past or his feeling for Irving in general.
It might be because Williams and Irving both went to Duke, so they have a connection in that sense.
But, defending Irving does not seem to make much sense.
Irving deserves all the criticism he gets.
For a large majority of his career, he has done nothing but cause problems for the teams he has been on.
He was in Cleveland, Boston, and Brooklyn, with each spot ending with Irving getting shipped out.
Now in Dallas, it seems likely that once the honeymoon period is over, Irving will not fit in there either.
The Mavericks have been looking for a star player opposite Luka Doncic, and they got that in Irving.
But, the history of Irving suggests this will not end well.
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