Mike James sets off firestorm with Kyrie Irving comment

Mike James didn’t play a lot of games with Kyrie Irving, arriving in Brooklyn on May 13, and he admits he’s not returning next season. But he saw enough to form an opinion on the Nets guard, as he laid out in a number of tweets the last two days.

It started when the Euroleague and NBA veteran saw this list...

That set off a firestorm among fans ... across the basketball world. This was heresy, fans suggested! More than one fan even tweeted that James was biased because Irving and Harden are his teammates. Not so, responded James...

James then doubled down, not once but twice and caught even more heat as he dealt with thousands of angry fans of other players...

Ultimately, he closed his argument with final statement. No backing down...

But the big news out of the back-and-forth was Kevin Durant’s response to James putting Irving above Curry. He liked the tweet, shocking some...

Irving’s detractors, of course, are often motivated by his off-court comments, rather than what he does on-court, which can be extraordinary...

Moreover, Irving has an NBA championship (and three Finals appearances) plus gold medals in both the Olympics in 2016 and FIBA World Cup in 2014, winning the MVP award in that FIBA competition. Last season, he became only the fourth player in NBA history with shooting splits of 50/40/90 and a scoring average above 25 points per game. The others are Larry Bird (twice), Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. Sounds like a foursome that should be enshrined on some mountain.

• Former Teammate Makes a Bold Case for Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving & James Harden to Join This Incredible List - Aditya Mohapatra - Essentially Sports