The Grip - Tuesdays

Kyrie: I'm No One's Robin

July 25, 2017

July 25, 2017

KYRIE: THE EARTH IS FLAT AND I'M NO ONE'S ROBIN

UNCLE DREW ADDS TO THE DYSFUNCTION 

You’ve surely heard by now that Kyrie Irving is unhappy and no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James. He wants his own team and his own position.So badly, in fact, that he is apparently willing to go to the New York Knicks.

But none of his suggestions really matter, because he doesn't have a no-trade clause, still with two years before he can opt out. The Cavs, should they even choose to deal him, could send him to Charlotte, Orlando, Sacramento, or any other black hole media market.

But the big picture thing to look at here is how astonishingly dysfunctional this whole thing has become. With LeBron’s more-than-just-rumored departure, and now Kyrie’s declaration of independence, the question begs: Where will this saga end up in the file cabinet of great team debacles?

Of course, there was Shaq and Kobe and the 2003-04 season. Kobe was trying to avoid the title of Rapist, Shaq wanted to get paid, and Karl Malone was hitting on everyone’s wives.

That ended with a loss in the NBA Finals, Shaq’s trade to Miami, Kobe’s soiled name, Malone’s retirement and Gary Payton somehow becoming a Celtic.

But before all that, perhaps forgotten now because all of the winning, was Scottie Pippen and his internal battle with Chicago brass. In the early ‘90s, Pippen signed a long-term contract that, given the explosion in money a few years later, was a drastic underpay -- 122nd most in the league.

His final years in Chicago were surprisingly melancholy; he publicly bashed general manager Jerry Krause, tried to sit out the 1997-98 season and one time got really drunk on a team bus and started yelling at Krause to trade him.He won his sixth title then headed to Houston in free agency.Consider some others:

  • Golden State star Rick Barry stopped trying in the second half of game seven of the 1976 Western Conference Finals, because in the first half there was a fight with him and Ricky Sobers where none of his teammates backed him up. That ended those Warriors as contenders.

  • The 1967 Philadelphia 76ers, one of a handful in the greatest-team-ever discussion, were torn apart a year later in 1968, when Wilt Chamberlain demanded a trade, lest he jump to the ABA. The beef was because he wanted to be player-coach. Sigh.

These last two, of course, were different times, but Irving, who made the title-winning shot a year ago, wants out from a situation alongside the third or fourth best player ever. He’s turning down a surefire shot at the Finals. Something serious is brewing in that organization.

MELO TO OKC? OHGODPLEASE

What basketball fan in their right mind wouldn't want to see such an insane concoction of talent? Reigning MVP Russell Westbrook, defensive savant Paul George and still-pretty-damn-good Carmelo Anthony, plus Steven Adams and Pat Patterson in crunch time in the NBA Playoffs?We’re not saying that’s beating Golden State, but, you know, that would be fun.Lala probably wants no part of Oklahoma, but real, honest, reports have come out with all the right buzzwords: mutual interest, active talks.

The Daily News’ Frank Isola, though, who knows these types of things,

. Some people just want to see the world burn.

Anyway, here’s to the idea of Paul George swatting someone’s shot. Here’s to Russell Westbrook corralling the rebound, pushing it up court and dishing to Carmelo Anthony. Here’s to Melo nailing a three-pointer and doing that three-finger thing to his head.

Here’s to a slice of potential basketball heaven.

Get it going, Presti.

QUICK HITS

  • Derrick Rose signed on last night with the Cavs for a one-year, $2.1 million contract. Kyrie’s replacement? Likely. LeBron likes the deal, apparently.

CONCRETE READS

  • John Kundla, “the greatest psychologist who ever lived,” the first coach to three-peat (‘53-’55), is remembered by New York Times writer Richard Goldstein. He died two days ago at the age of 101. [Tap Here]

  • How about some David Halberstam? His intensely reported account of Kermit Washington, who nearly killed a Houston Rockets player with an in-game punch, is remembered by Deadspin. It was written almost 40 years ago. Still great. [Tap Here]

#throwbackeverydayJuly 25, 1988: Despite the Cold War and all that, the Atlanta Hawks scrimmaged the Soviet Georgia All-Stars in the Soviet Union. It was the first game played there. The Hawks won, 85-84, and no colluding was evident.