Stephen A Smith bashes Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving for taking far too many days off this season following his latest leave of absence.
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Kyrie Irving it seems is in the news every week. The player has had some good press, as well as some really, really bad press. This one of the biggest reasons why many consider the Brooklyn Nets star to be one of the most controversial players in the history of the NBA.
A storyline that refuses to go away for the star, is his absence from the team on multiple occasions due to personal reasons. The first time it happened this campaign, ended with footage of a player in a party being found. The second time though there seemed to be no trouble.
However, the player is reportedly going to miss the franchise’s next game due to personal reasons once again. And it seems that Stephen A Smith is having absolutely none of it.
Stephen A Smith places some well-deserved criticism on Kyrie Irving
ESPN analyst Stephen A Smith has become infamous for making some of the best controversial statements on television. He has made countless hot takes that have earned him endless amounts of backlash over the course of his career.
The man is just an experienced veteran at this type of thing. So needless to say, he wasted no time in reacting with some serious passion to the situation at hand.
What the hell is going on with KYRIE? pic.twitter.com/JUtoH59fli
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 12, 2021
Countless NBA analysts have been a bit fearful about commenting on the Kyrie Irving situation. After all, if it is a matter of mental health, just about anything they say can be held against them.
However, Stephen A Smith has never let that affect him, for better or for worse. And here, to be completely honest, the Knicks fan is right.
Kyrie Irving is one of the Brooklyn Nets’ biggest pieces. For a player of that stature of any franchise to take as many leaves as he has is unheard of.
Even if there is an issue that the player needs to tend to immediately, there needs to be a limit after which he takes responsibility. Being absent from the team is fine, but these constant absences being continually excused and paid for by the franchise can’t sit well with the others on the team.
The NBA champion is one of the leaders of this team. It is partially on him to set the right tone for the rest of the franchise, on and off the court. But, if this goes on, the right culture would fail to be set within the Nets.
And as was seen with the Clippers last season, if things go wrong, the finger could be pointed at Kyrie Irving by his own teammates in the end.