Long before being teammates with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving was one of the many youngsters in The King’s 2009 camp.
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Kyrie Irving and LeBron James were one of the most entertaining duos in the league. During their stint at Cleveland, both these icons managed to achieve a feat that was never done before – crawl out of a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals.
Long before this pairing co-led the Cavaliers to their first-ever NBA championship back in 2016, Kai was actually a member of King James’ camp back in 2009.
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During his final year in high school, Irving went on to record 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists as he managed to lead St. Patrick to an impressive 24-3 record. As a reward, the shifty guard was selected to several honorable camps – McDonald’s All-American Game, Jordan Classic, Nike Hoop Summit, and even LeBron James’ Skills Academy.
This was also the first time Rod Strickland saw just how talented his godson was.
“I knew Kyrie Irving was special right away”: Rod Strickland
Back in 2009, the former Washington Wizards All-NBA team member saw Kyrie play for the first time. And what he saw, certainly left him impressed, to say the least.
In an interview, Rod stated how the then-Duke commit stunned everyone with his performance.
”My first eyes on Kyrie as a hooper,” Strickland says, “I saw him play in Springfield, Massachusetts — I mean in a competitive setting — he was at St. Pat’s and then he was at the LeBron James camp.”
”And once I saw him at the LeBron James camp,” Strickland continues, “I mean he was ridiculous. I saw the right hand, the left hand, all the layups and how he maneuvered… He made passes but he was such a gifted scorer that he could put the ball in the hole… I knew he was special right away.”
”There are some things that everybody’s not doing, so when I see somebody playing with both hands — the way he was playing with it in high school — that’s special. You don’t see that a lot.”
Little did Strickland know that Kyrie would end up having 7 ASG appearances, 3 All-NBA selections, and be an NBA champ.
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