Current Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving has been nothing but a positive for the team ever since he came to the Lone Star State from the Brooklyn Nets.
However, his reputation from past team's is likely what deterred team's away from Irving when he was available.
One person that stood his ground through the situations? Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
"Every Player I Talked To Loved Him"
On the Gil's Arena podcast with former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, the "Shark Tank" judge talked about the issues that the guard faced with previous teams, but how all the players that he talked to thought highly of Irving.
"When he was having all his problems in Brooklyn, and before that, Boston, we were trying to get another star to pair with Luka," Cuban said on the show. "Initially, I was like: Kyrie? You know, everybody called him a cancer. Everywhere he went, they were ready to get rid of him. But every player I talked to loved him. "And I would start watching his old games. After every game, you know, guys dap up and trade jerseys, but with Kyrie, people were hugging him like he was a cousin they hadn’t seen in forever, right? They just loved the guy. And everyone I talked to said the same thing."
And since Irving has been in Dallas, his maturity on and off the court have been very evident, as he led the Mavs to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics in his very first season alongside Luka Doncic.
Now that Doncic is with the Los Angeles Lakers and Cooper Flagg is the new young hot commodity in Dallas, Irving will look to keep up his veteran prowess on the hardwood while playing a mentor role as well once he is 100 percent healed from his ACL tear.