Potential L.A. Lakers signing Kyrie Irving is one of the best players in the NBA, but he is also a giant headache, writer Mark Medina has told GiveMeSport.

Irving was drafted first overall in 2011 by the Cleveland Cavaliers and really started to take over in his third season. After LeBron James came back to Cleveland, James and Irving led the Cavs to an NBA title in 2016. Yet, following that, everything started to go downhill.

In July 2017, Irving requested a trade from Cleveland and a month later joined the Boston Celtics. He then left Boston in the summer of 2019 to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. Yet, after dealing with injuries and sitting out games, he once again asked for a trade and was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks.

He's headed for free agency in July and reports have claimed that James is pushing for the Lakers to sign Irving and re-ignite their partnership. However, Medina has pointed out some of the problems that come with the 6 foot 2 guard.

Irving struggles to stay healthy

"I think when you talk to people in the front offices around the league, they think, yeah, he has a great basketball talent, but he's one giant headache. There's a lot of unpredictability as far as his availability goes, because he has had a lot of injuries. Even though he trains really well and is well-conditioned and has a great game, he's had struggles with staying healthy on the court," Medina told GiveMeSport.

"Then it's all the other extracurriculars. There's been so many times in the last few years when he's had leave of absences with just taking personal days without any explanations. Then there's been a lot of unique circumstances like not adhering to the vaccine mandate when playing for a Brooklyn Nets organization in a city that had a vaccine mandate, and therefore didn't make them available for games."

Irving's next move

As Mark Medina says, Kyrie Irving has struggled to stay healthy as he hasn't played over 70 games since the 2016-17 season with Cleveland, which was his last with the Cavs. Yet, he did seem to find a bit of success in Dallas as he averaged over 38 minutes per game and averaged 27 points per game.

However, the Mavericks missed the playoffs after being in a playoff spot when they traded for him. With that, his future in Dallas is uncertain as Irving is a free agent this summer.

It remains to be seen if the L.A. Lakers will go for him, although James is bound to have considerable influence behind the scenes.