What is the probability that Kyrie will be a Mav next season?

[RDB]

You’re definitely not a moron, and there’s a chance you are right on the money.

However, fans in Cleveland, Boston and Brooklyn were all singing the same tune in this same key early on, too. The smart money says he is angling to get his last contract, not suddenly a completely different person.

I get what your saying and you may be right.  As I said, I don’t know the specifics of why he left other teams.  I’m also not suggesting that things are not going to end poorly here as well. 

Like you, I also don’t believe he has suddenly become a different person.  I personally can’t see Kyrie changing who he is for anyone.  I am actually suggesting that the person Kyrie is has remained consistent but has been misinterpreted and misunderstood.  As I said, I believe Kyrie is an extremely prideful person and has a lower than normal tolerance when he feels disrespected.  I also believe that while money is likely a motivator, the greater motivator for him is happiness and respect.  I would be willing to bet that at the root of every fallout lies a feeling of disrespect.  Mix in a heavy dose of extreme pride, a dash of low tolerance, a pinch of a lack of a personal filter, a dab of a method to communicate to the masses, and a splash of non-contextual social media forums and you have a train wreck when things go sideways.  In my experience, working with a person like Kyrie is not that difficult as long as you know who you are dealing with and are willing to invest the time to better understand the drivers.  

Kyrie is not a unique outlier…just look out the window.  He just chose employment in an industry followed by people who take a personal, often unhealthy, and occasionally borderline psychotic interest in his profession.  I don’t think Kyrie is a bad person, I just think he is misunderstood.  Unfortunately, in a world predicated on short cuts, we choose simplified labels to define a person instead of trying to better understand that person.  At the end of the day, it is just more expeditious to label him as a selfish, money hungry nut job motivated by self interest, it can be comforting and therapeutic in a twisted sort of way.  Externally we get twisted in knots but deep down people thrive on this shit…it connects and unites.  To quote the lyric’s from the TOOL song Vicarious, “I need to watch things die…from a distance”.

Again, just my opinion.