Former NBA player and television analyst Charles Barkley doesn't think the Kyrie Irving-Dallas Mavericks relationship is going to end well.
Barkley was a guest today on "Mad Dog Sports Radio" on SiriusXM with host Adam Schein on Monday.
During the conversation Barkley talked about Irving quite a bit. Barkley's never been shy about voicing his opinion about the NBA, politics or anything.
Excerpts and links to audio below, courtesy of the Mad Doug Sports Radio on Sirius XM.
Charles Barkley on the Kyrie Irving trade to Dallas:
Charles Barkley: "I'm not a Kyrie guy. I mean, at some point you've got to look yourself in the mirror and say, 'If everybody's always talking bad about me maybe I deserve some blame.' He put out that cryptic tweet though, 'Just keep people around you.' I don't like people who say, 'keep people around you who support you and be your friend no matter what.' That sounds good, but your friends just can't tell you you're right all the time either. You got to surround yourself with people who are going to be honest with you. Kyrie never thinks anything is his fault and everybody's out to get him. From a basketball standpoint, it's going to be interesting with the Mavs. I don't see how him and Luka can share the ball. I think that's going to be fascinating. Luka's a hell of a player, Kyrie's a terrific player also, but they both need the ball to be successful. Neither one of them are great defensively, so I think it's going to be interesting but man, I'm just sick of the whole Kyrie saga to be honest with you."
Host Adam Schein: "I'm sick of it too. Frankly, he makes me sick for a lot of different reasons. We know how it ended in Cleveland, know how it ended in Boston, know how it ended in Brooklyn and I know how it's going to end in Dallas."
Charles Barkley: "But see, that's the point I was making earlier. It's always somebody else's fault. You can tell he's got a bunch of kiss-asses around him like, 'Yeah, Kyrie. You're always right. Everybody else is wrong.' He's never going to grow up and be a man and say, 'You know what, maybe I need to grow up and change myself,' because the people around him are always gonna tell him, 'No Kyrie, it's not your fault. It's other people's fault.' That's what sad about the whole saga to be honest with you Adam."
