Kyrie Irving, Who Played Only 29 Games, Received All-NBA Vote From ‘Mesmerized’ Jalen Rose

Jalen Rose apparently believes in quality over quantity.

The ESPN NBA analyst admitted as much when he fessed up to voting Kyrie Irving All-NBA (third team), despite the Nets guard having suited up for just 29 games. Rose did so because he was mesmerized by Irving’s skills, though he now considers his vote to have been a mistake.

“I need to fall on the sword because I’m the lone person that voted Kyrie Irving third-team All-NBA,” Rose said during a Wednesday evening appearance on ESPN’s NBA Countdown. “I get mesmerized by his talent, but it was a mistake to put him on third-team.”

Jalen Rose admitted on NBA Countdown that it was a mistake to put Kyrie Irving on the All-NBA 3rd team. #NBATwitter #NetsLevel pic.twitter.com/x5jUl5svBX

— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 (@_Talkin_NBA) May 25, 2022

In his 29 games on the court, Irving did showcase elite skills, tallying up averages of 27.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He did however, play almost two-thirds less games then some of the players who were recognized as All-NBA performers.

When an obviously confused Steven A. Smith, Rose’s cohost, asked what led him to vote for Irving, Rose responded: “Let me tell you how I made that. In my mind, this was a unique season, and based on based on that unique season, when Kyrie Irving decided to play, for whatever reason, he was as dominant as any player in the league, and he was one of the top 15 performers when he was in uniform.”

Irving and the Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last month.

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