Kyrie Irving: Taylor Jenkins 'Immature' For Publicly Calling Out Grizzlies vs. Lakers
Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving took issue with Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins saying his team is "far from where we need to be from a maturity standpoint" after falling behind three games to one in their first-round playoff series with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jenkins had this to say after the Grizz fell 117-111 in overtime to the Lakers on Monday.
"We're far from where we need to be from a maturity standpoint," Jenkins said, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
"This is all experience that you can only gain from. So, nothing's gonna change overnight, but when we wear it, and we understand the struggles we're going through individually, collectively, on, off the court and all that stuff, and we sit down and we honestly talk about it, and we face it, you're hopefully gonna turn the corner for sure."
As Vardon noted, the Grizzlies entered this year as the NBA's fifth-youngest team, although veterans Danny Green (now on the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Steven Adams (out with a right knee injury) are not participating in the playoffs.
Memphis has earned the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference playoffs each of the past two seasons, but the Grizz may up having just one postseason series victory to show for it.
Last year, Memphis withstood a tough challenge from the No. 7 Minnesota Timberwolves before losing to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
This season, Memphis needs to win three straight just to avoid being upset by the No. 7 Lakers.
On the court, the Grizzlies have endured some brutal stretches of play in this series perhaps emblematic of a young team trying to navigate its way in the playoffs.
L.A. outscored Memphis by 22 in the second half of its Game 1 win. The Lakers later outscored Memphis 35-9 in the first quarter of a Game 3 win. Memphis then scored just four points for the first 4:57 of overtime en route to its Game 4 defeat.
The bullseye has been on Dillon Brooks, who said that Lakers star LeBron James looks "old" and that he wouldn't respect him unless he dropped 40 points on him. Brooks has shot just 33.3 percent in the playoffs (22.2 percent from three) and notably got ejected from Game 3 after hitting James in the groin. He and Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant refused to talk with reporters after Monday's loss.
There's certainly a case to be made about the Grizzlies' lack of maturity hurting them right now, as Jenkins noted, although Irving may have a point that hearing such comments from a coach mid-playoff series could hurt the team more than it helps.
Ultimately, this series isn't over yet. Memphis will look to hold off elimination when it hosts L.A. for Game 5 on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
