It's going to be hard to pick against the Cavs whenever they are at home in the NBA Playoffs. (Getty)
Last week, retired NBA vet and current ESPN NBA analyst Ryan Hollins appeared on the Scoop B Radio Podcast and discussed Kyrie Irving’s relationship with LeBron James during their Cleveland Cavaliers championship days.
“I think the way those two butted heads kind of left a bad imprint on Kyrie,” Hollins told me.
“It was bad business. It was some things that LeBron did. You know, Kyrie learned some poor leadership from LeBron and some of the stuff he did and I think Kyrie tried to come into his own in a different way. But very smart, very intelligent you know, really soft-spoken and trying to find out how to be a leader. I DON’T think Kyrie is a natural leader. You know some guys that are like — you see the 7 or 8 year old in the AAU game where he’s putting all the kids in the right spot, and he’s thinking of everybody…that’s NOT Kyrie. I think that’s something that he’s trying to grow and learn and do, and I think he’s handled a couple of situations wrong. I don’t think he’s lied about anything except about the world is flat when he was jokingly, but I think speaking out in the media; that’s a tightrope of a situation when you talk about your teammates. So I think some of those things he’ll admit that he wants to reel back.”
The story was aggregated by a few sites and some of Hollins’ other commentary while on the Scoop B Radio Podcast was even mentioned on Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe.
Some in NBA circles have privately questioned Hollins’ thoughts on James and Irving.
To clear up confusion, Hollins reflected and took to his Instagram stories to clear up his thoughts in an attempt to rid confusion and dischord. “For one, I encourage you to read the rest of the article with Scoop B,” Ryan Hollins said via Instagram.
“Shout out to Scoop. For two, I will say this…I got nothing but respect for LeBron James; what he did in Cleveland, what he achieved there, and also I got nothing but respect and love for Kyrie. That’s my guy; former teammate of mine we actually played together in Cleveland. When LeBron was in Cleveland, you can’t argue with the results. He brought a championship to a city that they haven’t seen in years. But as far as leadership, there ARE questions there for LeBron James; undoubtedly there are questions. And I think that he’s done an amazing job in L.A., and you can’t argue the results. In Boston, things didn’t necessarily work out in a city in which I played for already. I’m not amongst the people who say: ‘Let’s go throw Kyrie under the bus.'”