An older Irving has learned to share the stage
Remember when former Blue Devil Kyrie Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 2023? There was a sense that Irving had pushed things too far. He had previously requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers and ended up in Boston. That didn't work out and then he signed with Brooklyn as a free agent, leading to some bitter feelings with his old team.
Then Brooklyn was a disaster all around for everyone involved but especially for Irving. There was a sense that he annoyed management in any number of ways and it became clear that things were not going to work out between the two parties. There were people who felt that Irving was down to his last chance in the NBA, that he was too eccentric and difficult to work with.
That certainly hasn’t been the case in Dallas where Irving has, in a basketball sense, been reborn.
You may also remember a lot of people thought that Irving and Luka Doncic couldn’t get along on the court, but that certainly hasn’t been the case. Check out what Irving says about Doncic here:
“Coming into Dallas, I was dealing with a lot. Mentally, spiritually, emotionally and they embraced me with open arms. I don’t have a perfect journey. Coming into this environment, I was unsure how we were going to work out on the court, but off the court, I knew eventually that I would get him to open up. I just have to sit back and marvel at his talent and his ability to get outside of his comfort zone. I enjoy watching him be a father, I enjoy watching him develop as a person first. The basketball stuff will take care of it. We all know how skilled he is, we all know his numbers and stuff like that. I want to be a teammate and a brother next to him that helps him grow as a man and helps him achieve the things that he wants to achieve.”
Part of it, no doubt, is just that Irving has matured. He has said complimentary things about his old Cleveland teammate LeBron James, but at the time, he had trouble with the idea of playing second fiddle to King James.
With Doncic, he’s struck a wonderful balance. It’s nice to see this side of him.
