You Don't Want to Be in the Kyrie Irving Business

Kyrie Irving had been suspiciously quiet and seemingly content over the past several weeks, playing excellent basketball as the Brooklyn Nets climbed to the fourth position in the East. It seemed, to the untrained eye, that everything was suddenly copasetic for a franchise that's been more reliable in the content-creation and drama departments than it's been in the winning meaningful games sector. Lo and behold that was merely the eye of this particular destructive hurricane as Irving is back on his particular brand of team-killing. Which in this case is asking to join a different team.

Brooklyn, of course, does not have to trade the most mercurial of its superstars. Yet it's not unreasonable to think that if they don't, Irving will simply decline to offer his services. Kevin Durant, who at this point should never, ever do an ad read for Zip Recruiter considering his shaky history assembling a team, has now been dealt another blow that will probably do more damage to his legacy — if you care about that type of thing — and prevent him from playing in a championship series, which he very much cares about.

The lesson here, as always, is the peril of going into business with unstable business partners. Colin Cowherd addressed the situation on his show with some pretty straightforward observations on the matter.

A suitor may emerge for Irving. The Los Angeles Lakers are the sexiest option. They are also the most interesting scenario. There is some small chance that reuniting with LeBron James would unlock something long dormant. Getting the band back together can do wild things.

But any team even considering jumping on this grenade knows the risks. Whether you like Kyrie or not, we can all assess that's he's unreliable. And more likely than not, really bad for business.