Kyrie Irving goes through funks. Just like everyone else.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Brad Penner/USA Today)
So Jackie MacMullan of ESPN had an article about the Brooklyn Nets.
This, however, was the part that caught everyone’s eye:
Yet Irving’s infamous mood swings, confirmed by his ex-teammates, which followed him from Cleveland to Boston to Brooklyn, are the unspoken concern that makes Nets officials queasy. When Irving lapses into these funks, he often shuts down, unwilling to communicate with the coaching staff, front office and, sometimes, even his teammates. Nets team sources say one such episode occurred during Brooklyn’s trip to China, leaving everyone scratching their heads as to what precipitated it. There’s hope that Durant will be able to coax his friend into a better frame of mind. But when presented with that scenario, KD says he will be hands off.
It was followed by this reckless tweet from Bleacher Report:
Kyrie Irving’s “mood swings” are an “unspoken concern that makes Brooklyn officials queasy.”
Nets sources say an episode happened on their trip to China, leaving the team confused, per Jackie MacMullan pic.twitter.com/Yu0xd8JRNI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 29, 2019
First off, I don’t think it was really cool of the Nets to reveal that kind of stuff about Kyrie. Second, I saw a lot of people on social media make fun of Kyrie for being so “moody.”
Kyrie Irving is human, guys. We all have these “funks.” We all want to be left alone when something isn’t going right in our lives.
There are times where I just don’t want to talk to anybody. And I’m sure that goes along with everyone else. Why are people going after Kyrie for that? Is it because he’s a celebrity? Is it because he’s super rich? Is he not allowed to go through a funk?
Let’s not forget that Kyrie’s grandfather died a year ago. And his mother passed away at an early age. It’s never easy to lose family and loved ones and those things can stay with people for the rest of their lives.
And yeah, I get that it’s easy to go after Kyrie after all he said about the world being flat (even if he was trolling and eventually apologized for it). But that’s different than going after his mental health. It’s one thing to ridicule someone for something they said but it’s another to deride someone because of how he’s feeling.
We praised DeMar DeRozan and Kevin Love when they revealed about their mental health as professional athletes. Why do people mock Kyrie for having “mood swings”? Is it because it’s Kyrie? Is it because he hasn’t had the best relationships with teams he previously played for?
Guys, professional athletes are human beings, too. And so is Kyrie Irving. In that sense, Kyrie, even if extremely rich and a public figure, is just like you and me.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.