Charles Barkley rips 'immature' Kyrie Irving on ESPN

Kyrie Irving’s antics have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way lately. The way he’s acted towards the Brooklyn Nets organization and the NBA has made analysts wonder whether he actually wants to play basketball or not.

Irving decided not to show up to the Nets’ game without giving any kind of heads-up whatsoever, and then didn’t even join them to travel to Memphis. He missed several games without offering an explanationand was later spotted partying in Toronto.

And, according to Charles Barkley, that may have prompted the Nets to trade multiple assets to the Houston Rockets in return for James Harden, as they feel like they just can’t trust him anymore.

Charles Barkley Tells Kyrie Irving To Grow Up And Be A Professional

Barkley took to Stephen A. Smith’s new show on ESPN to voice his thoughts on Kyrie, calling him out for being unprofessional and urging him to cut it out right now and act like the player he should be:

“It’s time for Kyrie Irving to grow up and be a great player. When you become a professional and you’re making $34 million dollars a year, you’re held to different standards than most people. He has to show up to work. You know, we had the game on when the coach was like ‘I don’t know where Kyrie is’. You have an obligation to your employer. Listen, as terrific as you are on television, you do have to tell ESPN when you will not show up to work. You can’t just not go. So, that’s really unprofessional. So it’s time for him to grow up and be a great player, not just a talented player. To be a great player and be professional. And listen, I personally think – I have no proof. That the Nets are saying ‘listen, we had enough of worrying about Kyrie’. I think that’s why they made the James Harden trade, ’cause they don’t feel like they can trust Kyrie,” Barkley said.

There’s no denying that Kyrie is quite talented. That doesn’t mean that he’s the top-tier player he claims to be, as he’s failed to deliver when it has mattered the most. Rather than being humble about that and determined to lead a team,he refers to himself as so kind of artist.

Kyrie Irving let the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant, and the fans hanging with his attitude, and that’s just not ok. So yeah, he better starts showing up to work even when he doesn’t feel like working, just as everybody else.