NBA Insider Suggests Kyrie Irving Gave Jayson Tatum the LeBron Treatment

It sounds as though Kyrie Irving became the type of person he tried to escape when he was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

NBA insider Jeff Goodman suggests that while Irving was with the Celtics, he treated young star Jayson Tatum in a similar fashion to the way LeBron James acted towards him, something Irving was openly displeased with during his tenure in Cleveland.

Goodman says that Irving treated him more like a "little brother" than an equal teammate and that such an attitude may have stunted Tatum's development during his second year in the NBA.

Tatum took a bit of a step backwards in the 2018-19 season after a strong rookie campaign. His shot selection was suspect and he looked a bit uncomfortable at times on the floor. He averaged 15.7 points with a 45% field goal percentage connected on 37.3% of his 3-point attempts, down from the 43.4% clip he posted as a rookie.

This report isn't extremely shocking. Irving had a tumultuous season as the leader of the Celtics, one which was loaded with drama. At one point, he contacted LeBron to apologize for how he handled things leading up to his departure from Cleveland, and perhaps he should be issuing a similar apology to Tatum.

In attempting to step out of LeBron's shadow and take on a leadership role for the first time in his career, Irving actually became what he set out to avoid: a domineering leader who didn't treat his teammates as equals.