Everyone has an opinion on LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. At this point in the NBA summer, you could Mad Libs out a few headlines and probably nail half of them. Charles Barkley thinks that Kyrie Irving is [adjective] for wanting to leave Cleveland. Smart? No. Stupid? Got it!
Gilbert Arenas is the latest to chime in on whether Irving should get traded, or if he should even want to get traded. A TMZ camera caught up with Gil outside of a 7/11 in Los Angeles and asked about a variety of topics, starting with the most significant NBA news of late summer: will Kyrie play in Cleveland this fall.
Agent Zero said he doesn’t think Irving will win a championship without LeBron, but he understands why he wants out of Cleveland.
“When you’re a talent and you’re sitting behind a mega-talent and people can’t really see your value. I understand that. He has a ring now. He’s a champion. He probably wants to show everyone ‘this is who I am.'”
Arenas was asked point-blank about Irving’s championship chances on another team where he’s the star and — much like Ramona Shelburne — he was skeptical. But
So why does Irving want out? Arenas points out that the players are “in two different spaces right now” While James wants to get as many titles as he can because the clock is running out on his career, Irving doesn’t yet have that mindset.
“No. No he’s not going to win a title without LeBron. LeBron’s not going to win a title without a great player like himself also. But at this point he already has a title. Kyrie’s at that point where I want to show the world what I can do. I’m young. I can win more championships down the line.
LeBron’s in a situation where he doesn’t want to just play basketball averaging 40 or 30. So they’re in two different spaces right now.”
All in all, it’s a pretty good basketball conversation, maybe one of the better ones that have taken place in a 7/11 parking lot this summer.
