Kyrie Irving has gained plenty of critics recently, and a recent report that his "mood swings" are making the Brooklyn Nets uneasy isn't helping his cause.
But the former Boston Celtics point guard still has plenty of people in his corner -- among them former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Channing Frye.
The retired NBA forward, who spent three seasons with Irving in Cleveland that included an NBA title in 2016, joined NBC Sports' Tom Haberstroh on the latest episode of the "Habershow" podcast to discuss why Irving doesn't get a fair shake.
"I don't know what the word 'moody' means," Frye told Haberstroh. "Like, if some days he doesn't feel like talking to somebody, he is a grown man. You don't know what's going on in his life.
"I think every teammate I've ever had has bad days, so sometimes I think we try to make stories where there's no stories or we don't really think about what we're reporting."
Irving occasionally took heat during his Boston tenure for being distant or even uncooperative with teammates and the media alike. But Frye doesn't hold that against his former point guard.
"It's like, 'Oh, sorry, he didn't want to do something one time?' That doesn't mean he's moody," Frye said. "It just means he's having a bad day, which happens, because you see somebody every single day.
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" ... Like, life happens outside of sports. So, to say someone's moody, like, that's just him. He's not happy-go-lucky all the time. That's no big deal."
Frye also made sure to note Irving -- who's the fifth-best scorer in the NBA at 28.5 points per game -- can still bring it on the court.
"And as good as he's playing this year, s---, I'll take moody," Frye said. "I'll take moody all day."
Check out the full Habershow episode here or in the player above.
Don’t miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of the Maine Red Claws vs. the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which tips off Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET , followed by Celtics Pregame Live before the C's face the Warriors. You can also stream both games through the MyTeams App.