Most active players today would gladly admit that Kyrie Irving is the greatest ball-handler in the game. His shiftiness and deep bag of moves have wreaked havoc on NBA defenses since 2011. So you can imagine the uphill battle his teammates face when they have to defend him during scrimmages on a daily basis.
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Iman Shumpert explained the Kyrie experience with an example during his appearance on ‘The Big Podcast’ with Shaquille O’Neal.
“He does this thing where he will go to the baseline, and he do the Michael Jordan, where they like, turn their back and they shimmy. But Kyrie does it with a live dribble…,” Shump told Shaq.
“He played the angle to where I thought, there’s no way he could go past me. And he threw the ball behind my back and spun with no ball. He got the ball on the other side, laid it up for game point,” the 2016 NBA champion added.
Shumpert admitted that he felt embarrassed at first before noticing that Irving didn’t even realize what he had done. “He’s worked on each move individually, but when he’s blending them all together, that’s not rehearsed,” he added.
Thankfully, the Georgia Tech alum is now retired from the NBA so he doesn’t have to worry about getting fooled by Kyrie. But his advice to the defenders tasked with guarding Irving was simple: “Just put your seatbelt on, brother.”
His stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers earned Shumpert an NBA championship. Defending Kai in practice helped Shump be more confident while guarding regular players.
Iman Shumpert had good reason to be scared of Kyrie Irving
Earlier this year, the winner of Dancing with the Stars was on Gil’s Arena when his former teammate became the topic of conversation. “You wanna know what’s scary about Kyrie?” Shumpert asked Arenas.
“He’s one of the only players that will play against you with no plan. Playing one-on-one with Kyrie, I realized, you [Irving] really don’t care how you score.”
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The 10-season veteran described how Irving played “defense on offense“. He only focused on securing the ball until he can find an opening to score, Shumpert explained.
It’s a good way to capture the Mavericks guard’s playing style because despite his incredible skillset, Kyrie is never one to showboat. Every dribble and every move he makes on the court is intended to help him create an easier shot.
That’s why Shump exudes so much respect for the eight-time All-Star. The two would team up twice during his career, winning a championship in Cleveland first and then, briefly, suiting up together for the Brooklyn Nets during Shumpert’s final years in the NBA.
