Kyrie Irving is a wizard with the basketball. His dribbling skill is second to none. Some may even argue that nobody in the NBA’s storied 79-year history has handled the ball better than Uncle Drew. Many assume Kyrie was inspired by the masters he grew up watching, like Allen Iverson and Jamal Crawford, but by his own revelation, one of his drills came from a Warriors cult hero.
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Baron Davis was never the flashiest ball handler in the league, but he could hold his own against almost anyone he went up against. Davis had a secret method to hone his finesse: He’d wrap basketballs in plastic bags and practice dribbling with them. The bag would reduce the ball’s bounce, so he could control it closer to the ground.
Iriving recently appeared on The TylilShow Live, with streamer Tylil. The internet sensation mentioned that someone once told him Kyrie would dribble basketballs with plastic bags on his hands. He didn’t believe what he heard, so he asked Kyrie if there were any truth to the rumor.
Kyrie explained, “Nah, I actually copied that from Baron Davis, shoutout to Baron Davis.”
When talking to the late Craig Sager way back during the 2013 All-Star Weekend, Irving admitted to doing Davis’ plastic bag drill as a child. Sager was talking about how Kyrie’s handles in the Rising Stars Game were making a mockery of poor Brandon Knight, and asked Kyrie to demonstrate.
Kai picked up the ball and said, “Used to dribble outside with it. It was during a Baron Davis documentary, and he said he used to dribble the plastic bag, so I started dribbling with the plastic bag.” He told the legendary reporter that the technique improved his hand-eye coordination, and that was the basis for how he became so good with the ball in his hands.
Irving also gets compared to Jamal Crawford a lot, who had a wide array of moves that left fans in awe when they watched him. While talking on the Pivot podcast, J-Crossover said that the reason he and Kyrie are such good dribblers is because they see the game the same way.
“He’s the only other person I’ve seen or talked to who sees the same things, what he’s looking at when he’s dribbling,” Crawford said.
“What I mean by that is this: My feet, my hands, my mind are all one,” Crawford explained. “So, if you guys trapped me right now, I would look at a spot and somehow, someway, I would get to that spot … [Irving’s] the only other person who sees it like that. A lot of players see it in black and white, and we see it in color.”
Crawford didn’t specify who is the better of the two, but he clearly believes Kyrie is one of the best ball handlers the NBA has ever seen.
