This is an impromptu post, as I'm not usually as reactive to crazy things that are randomly said without proof or evidence. But I'll be damned if this wasn't on videotape, and I saw Kyrie Irving talking crazy to Kobe Bryant, getting Kobe riled up and getting Kobe to accept a $50,000 wager on the two of them to play 1-on-1.
A few points quickly.
1. Kyrie Irving is possibly having the best week out of any basketball player in the world. Balling out in the summer league. Balling out on the Team USA select squad. Now this? I'm on the bandwagon officially.
2. Kobe Bryant, the king of never conceding anything, did everything in this video that I thought he would once I heard about this challenge. As much as I hate the dude, he's doing what every old man does when a young fella comes at him crazily. Kobe talked to Kyrie like an Uncle talks to his nephew. It was necessary, but it was dope.
3. Here's the big question: Is this how all the young bucks view Kobe now in 2012? That he's vulnerable? That he's come down a notch? The fact that Kyrie had the gall and the audacity to make such an egregious wager seems preposterous, but is it really?
So, with all that being said ... can someone let us know when this game of 1-on-1 will take place? Make sure they get it on video like they did with this conversation. This needs to happen ASAP.
Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”