The confetti has all fallen, the champagne bottles are empty, and the Denver Nuggets are your 2023 NBA World Champions. Now, the transaction firehose that is the NBA offseason begins, with the draft coming up in a week, and free agency beginning a little over a week after that. With $50 million in cap space, two first round picks, and a massive sense of urgency to start winning, the Houston Rockets are among the most interesting teams in the NBA the next couple weeks.
Much of the conjecture about the Rockets centers around the possibility of James Harden returning to Houston in free agency. I know that many of you are rereading that last sentence and wondering if I am on crack, but yes, Harden’s return to Houston is a distinct possibility, even after he demanded a trade away from here in early 2021.
I can go either way on Harden. As long as it’s not a max value deal, and isn’t for more than a year or two, then fine, bring him back. It’s one of the Plan B options if the Rockets don’t land Harden that has me worried. From CBS Sports:
James Harden has been the Houston Rockets’ top target in free agent for the better part of the past year. The 2018 MVP spent his prime in Houston, and after three years in the tank, the Rockets have made no secret of their interest in a reunion with their former superstar in an attempt to climb back up the standings. The interest appears to be mutual, though at this point, the latest reporting suggests that Harden is torn between the Rockets and a return to the Philadelphia 76ers.
If Harden does indeed stay with the 76ers, the Rockets will still have almost $60 million in cap space burning a hole in their pocket, and according to Marc Stein’s latest newsletter, they’re considering an interesting backup plan: Kyrie Irving. Like Harden, Irving will be a free agent this offseason, but after missing the playoffs with the Dallas Mavericks, he may be amenable to a change of scenery.
There aren’t many things that would have me pondering the withdrawal of my support for a local team. Honestly, until this bit of speculation surfaced, I’d have hard time thinking of anything, short of signing a felon, that would have me thinking this way, but signing Kyrie Irving to a max deal makes no sense, and would indeed have me thinking about turning in my metaphorical Rockets’ fan card. Here’s why:
Kyrie has never been part of anything resembling a title level winner without LeBron James as his teammate
The Kyrie sycophants will point out that he is an NBA champion, having been a key part of the Cleveland Cavalier team that came back from down 3-1 against Golden State to win a title in 2016. Logical thinking people, like me, will point out that, unless he is on a team with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving has always been the best player (or one of the best players) on underperforming teams. Behold, the year by year record of Irving-led teams sans LeBron (divisional finish and playoff result in parentheses):
2011-12, CLV 21-45 (5th of 5, no playoff)
2012-13, CLV 24-58 (5th of 5, no playoff)
2013-14, CLV 33-49 (3rd of 5), no playoff
2017-18, BOS 55-27 (2nd of 5, Lost conf finals)
2018-19, BOS 49-33 (3rd of 5, Lost conf semis)
2019-20, BKN 35-37 (4th of 5, Lost 1st rd)
2020-21, BKN 48-24 (2nd of 5, Lost conf semis)
2021-22, BKN 44-38 (4th of 5, Lost 1st rd, SWEPT)
2022-23, BKN-DAL — BKN, 31-21; DAL, 10-18 (no playoff)
The noteworthy things here — first, the only time a team with Kyrie on the roster (with no LeBron) made it to the conference finals, Kyrie wasn’t even playing. he was injured for the entire 2018 postseason. Most recently, the Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving in early February this year, were thought to be a contender for the NBA title, and wound up falling out of the playoff picture completely.
It’s ended poorly literally EVERYWHERE Kyrie has been
The first bullet point are the mere in court results. This bullet point is about the baggage that Kyrie carries, and the trash heap that he leaves behind everywhere he goes. Here we go:
CLEVELAND – Irving didn’t want to play with LeBron, wanted to be the star of his team, so he demanded a trade.
BOSTON – His final season there, he was on again, off again on staying in Boston, and then went 25-83 from field in playoffs while getting eliminated by Milwaukee.
BROOKLYN – Played 143 games in 3+ seasons, due to injuries and an unwillingness to get vaccinated, before finally demanding a trade.
DALLAS – Mavericks went 8-12 with him in the lineup, fell out of the playoff race, and went 2-9 as a team, down the stretch.
Kyrie is walking scorched earth.
Kyrie, off the court, is anywhere from a weirdo to a possible racist
Baggage over wanting to be the alpha on a basketball team, or general basketball dissatisfaction is one thing. Then there’s Kyrie Irving’s off court baggage, which is another thing altogether. At any given time, Irving can drop some theories on the Earth being flat, followed by conspiracy theories that the COVID vaccine was designed to make people worship Satan. If you follow him long enough on social media, perhaps you’ll get an Alex Jones video that he shares, or worse, some good old fashioned anti-semitic filmography:
On October 27, 2022, Irving tweeted a link to an Amazon listing page for Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, a 2018 film based on a book of the same name, which promotes Black Hebrew Israelite ideology.[226][227] The film includes denials that the Holocaust occurred, quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler and Henry Ford, claims that Jewish people worship Satan.
It took Kyrie Irving ten days to apologize for the above fiasco. Have I made a convincing enough case? Rockets, steer clear of this idiot, please.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
