![]() Team-wise, you’re going to say Giannis Antetokounmpo. If you want to go stat-wise, you’re going to say James Harden. 12 (in the West) and came back and they’re fourth now? (The Rockets have since moved up to third) It’s hard. 1 spot, but early in the season Houston was down to like No. “It’s very close you could pick either of them.” A few candid thoughts from some of the players polled… “Reigning MVP James Harden is putting up big numbers, but his Houston Rockets are a mess.”įast forward nearly four months, and Harden is garnering all sorts of well-deserved respect on this here poll as he tries to edge out Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo for the league’s top individual award. 13, when the Rockets were in the midst of their 11-14 start, the only mention of the Houston star in my 1,485-word column on the MVP race was this 16-word line. Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard (1%)Ī quick admission, for the sake of professional honesty: I gave up on Harden’s candidacy way too early.Not every player answered every question, but there was more than enough participation to paint a genuine picture of this fascinating NBA world. In all, we talked to 127 players – more than a quarter of the Association’s workforce. Thanks to the hard work of our 30 beat writers who gathered the results from March 16 to April 1, we now know that a player who you have likely never heard of is the most feared man in all the hoops land, that the grumpiest coach of them all is also the most admired, that the superstar who might win MVP is somehow not seen as franchise centerpiece material by his peers and that the same referee who is respected by some can be reviled by others. That means while the boos and insults rain down Irving will embrace the dark side, and that should excite Nets fans and worry Celtics fans.The inaugural NBA edition of The Athletic’s player poll was no different. Still, Irving is a man who beats to his own drum, for better or worse, and won’t change who he is or how he plays. Flipping the middle finger to a fan on national television or screaming back at a fan while you’re walking to the locker room is an easy way to get a bill in the mail from Adam Silver for a fine. The NBA isn’t going to see it that way with the spotlight on the Nets-Celtics series. Irving’s antics surely don’t sit well with the fans of Boston and some of the talking heads on TV, radio or in print, but it’s hard to argue with Irving’s point about players expected to be held to a higher standard in the face of 18,000-plus fans saying some truly nasty things at you. “So if somebody’s going to call me out on my name, I’m gonna look at them straight in the eye and see if they really ’bout it. “This isn’t my first time at TD Garden so what you guys saw, what you guys think is entertainment, or the fans think is entertainment, all is fair in competition. I’m not really focused on it, it’s fun, you know what I’m saying? Where I’m from I’ve dealt with so much, so coming in here you relish it as a competitor,” Irving said. “It’s the same energy I’m giving back to them. Kyrie and Celtics fans not getting along /AlbAK0QsEM Perhaps amping up one of the game’s best players to score 39 points isn’t the wisest decision. And why should he?Īs Bruce Brown said about Kevin Durant earlier this season, “I don’t know why people are talking to him.” The same could be said for the trash talk that’s directed at Irving from Celtics fans. If that’s the case, then don’t expect Irving to react any differently than he did on Sunday. The reception is not going to change any time soon for Irving as the series marches on. It’s fair to say that part of that drive came from Irving’s desire to answer the fans in Boston on Sunday who chanted “Kyrie sucks” throughout the afternoon and booed him loudly as he was introduced during player introductions ahead of tipoff.
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