OT: - Kemba Walker keeps acing the moment that Kyrie Irving got most horribly wrong as a Celtic | The Boneyard

OT: Kemba Walker keeps acing the moment that Kyrie Irving got most horribly wrong as a Celtic

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Kemba did not have his best series vs Toronto, especially in 3 of those games, though he was hounded to be fair. But he has certain intangibles Irving did not have. I don't think Irving is that much better any way and Kemba's positive attitude and team-centered approach might make him the overall better player to have on a team. In fact, I am sure of that!

Thoughts?
 
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Kemba did not have his best series vs Toronto, especially in 3 of those games, though he was hounded to be fair. But he has certain intangibles Irving did not have. I don't think Irving is that much better any way and Kemba's positive attitude and team-centered approach might make him the overall better player to have on a team. In fact, I am sure of that!

Thoughts?
No doubt about it. He’s a winner and puts team first. I’d rather be loved and respected by teammates than be the best baller on the court.
 
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I watch almost every Celtics game. Have for years. Kemba is the anti-Kyrie. Kyrie Irving has some kind of existential conflict with him. Does he want to play basketball? Does life matter? Where do I want to be?

Kemba? He enjoys being a basketball player. It's just simple life joy for Kemba.

Irving is just not a happy guy. And he absolutely tanked the Celtics last year against the Bucks.

Kemba had a terrible series, but check out the offensive rating when he was on the floor. That box and 1 of Toronto took Kemba out of the picture, but he was confident enough to not force it and allow Tatum, Brown and Smart to do their thing. The ORTG when Kemba was on the floor was excellent and Boston got so many open shots because of the Box and One.
 
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Irving is one of the most skilled players I've ever seen...but he's a weirdo, a wannabe intellectual that doesn't make any sense when he thinks he's enlightening the world and a bad teammate.
 

gtcam

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I respect the way Kemba, who was the definitive leader of his Charlotte team, has allowed Marcus Smart to have his space as the "elder" statesman and defers to him as the team huddle leader. Marcus can be tough to get along with at times but he seems to enjoy playing with Kemba.
 
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As far as pure skill and talent, both Kyrie and Kemba are top notch. Kyrie is super skilled and might even exceed Kemba a little. If you say Kyrie is a 10, Kemba is probably a 9, not to far off. But leadership and chemistry matter.

For example, Kemba started the season on tear and was lighting it up. Then he cooled off (might've been due to the knee) and Tatum went on a tear. Basketball analysts started to say, "originally we thought of Kemba as the #1 option, but this might be Tatum's team".

Now if Kemba heard that, he wouldn't have been affected by that one bit or took that as a slight, because he really doesn't care (more on this later). All he wants to do is win. Now put Kyrie in Kemba's position. If Kyrie heard that, he would've felt threatened as he has to be the #1 guy (hell, he messed up a great situation in Cleveland because of this) and he would've disrupted the whole team. Last year, the Celtics looked discombobulated and reluctantly passed the ball to each other.

In fact earlier in Kemba's response to reporters he said "I am the placeholder. This is their team now (Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum)". Marcus Smart disagreed, but that just shows Kemba doesn't care about who is the #1 guy and all that ego stuff.
 
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If I need scoring, Kyrie is the better player, and I don't think it's particularly close. If I'm looking at the best point guard, it's a lot closer because of what the position means and the personalities of the two. I think in the long run Kemba is better because Kyrie has everyone on egg shells. That can only work for so long, unless you are Michael Jordan.

I've met Kyrie in a small social setting. He was either surly or aloof, I'm not sure which (or maybe it was both).
 
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So Kyrie tries so hard to teach Tatum and Brown how to be winners but they just don't get it. Then within a year of Kyrie leaving and Kemba coming in, Tatum and Brown are 4 wins away from the finals.

It's got to be killing him.
 

eebmg

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Just waiting for Kyrie to sabotage his new team. Between injuries and attitude which will contaminate (or alienate) Durant , the Nets will become the biggest disappointment in the NBA
 
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Just waiting for Kyrie to sabotage his new team. Between injuries and attitude which will contaminate (or alienate) Durant , the Nets will become the biggest disappointment in the NBA

Durant and Irving are two of the strangest dudes in the league. Neither seem to be BAD guys... they're just weird. This Nets experiment is going to be fun to watch next year.
 
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Durant and Irving are two of the strangest dudes in the league. Neither seem to be BAD guys... they're just weird. This Nets experiment is going to be fun to watch next year.
Indeed, Nash was a GREAT choice to try and bring them together. As a player Nash arguably had Kemba's skillset but Kyrie's potential effectiveness b/c Nash was so smart and so innovative in his approach to games, training, offense etc.. And Nash is desperate to win a chip.

I was hoping and expecting the DuhIrving experiment to fail due to the elusive personalities, but now the odds are greatly improved that there is a positive KK ID.
 

Waquoit

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So Nash is the guy Kyrie is going to respect?
 

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