Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving needed help being a leader
There has been a lot of chatter about what kind of leader Cleveland Cavaliers’ point guard Kyrie Irving has been in his career. It’s been rough for Irving – he was drafted onto a team that had lost LeBron James a year earlier and was seriously lacking in talent. Because of that, Irving found it tough to be a leader.
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“Obviously being a leader is not a perfect job, it’s very lonely, everybody else just looks in from the outside and criticizes you and that’s part of the business and I get it,” Irving told Nina Mandell of The USA Today. It’s more just holding myself to a higher standard every single day and getting used to that.
“Three years in Cleveland, a lot of things going on speculation all that stuff, I had to deal with that all on my own, I didn’t really have help from anybody so I was just figuring that out,” he added. “Like I said leadership is a daily job and it’s an ongoing learning process and I’m just getting used to it. I’m not saying I’m a perfect leader but I’m learning how to become one.”
Of course, everything about Irving’s job is easier now that James has returned.
Irving put up 20.8 points, 6.1 assists, 3. rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 43.0% from the field, 35.8% from beyond the arc and 86.1% from the free throw line. In his three-year career, he’s gone for 20.7 points, 5.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 44.7% from the floor, 37.8% from three and 86.2% from the charity stripe.
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