With every passing game, Kyrie Irving is proving that experience is the most important attribute in high-pressure playoffs. In a close Game 1 against Minnesota Timberwolves, in the WCF series, that ended 108-105, Dallas Mavericks emerged victorious, thanks to Uncle Drew’s another 30-point piece. His consistency, over the past few seasons, has garnered praise from everywhere, including ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
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On the recent episode of ‘Get Up’, Windhorst praised Kai for how he is leading the Mavs in the season. He said, “I have never seen Kyrie Irving like this in mind, body or spirit.”
Windhorst recalled the last time he covered Irving in the Conference Finals, in 2017. He said that there’s an astronomical growth in the athlete over the last few years.
As per the 46-year-old, Kyrie has worked a lot on his discipline, and training, and has set an example for himself and other players on the team. He said, “He is the first Maverick on the floor at five in the afternoon, he’s out there on the floor, working on his shots. Physically, he’s in absolutely tremendous condition.”
These things weren’t a part of his game five or six years ago. In addition to that, he has also taken the responsibility to be a good leader and curate an environment where a young star like Luka Doncic can thrive.
.@WindhorstESPN is extremely impressed with Kyrie Irving.
"I've never seen Kyrie Irving like this in mind, body or spirit." pic.twitter.com/rsFL5UF9vP
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 23, 2024
With these welcome changes, Windhorst wondered how his ex-teammates would feel about him now. He said,
“I trully wonder and would love to hear what LeBron James and Kevin Durant think of seeing this Kyrie Irving because those were issues.”
When the Mavs guard played with LeBron in Cleveland and KD in Brooklyn, he was criticized for lacking the ability to take charge when needed. Now, it’s a whole different story because this version of him seems more than prepared to take on a challenge.
Kyrie Irving’s response to Anthony Edwards’ challenge
There was a lot of commotion in the basketball world ahead of Game 1 between the Mavs and the Wolves. The two teams being so stylistically different from one another had people wondering how the game would play out.
Amidst the rising speculations, Anthony Edwards, in a usual Ant-Man fashion, called out Kyrie for the matchup as he wanted to see how he’ll hold up against the Mavs guard. He said, “My matchup [is] going to be Kyrie. So that’s going to be fun. We’re going to see what I can do versus him.”
The 32-year-old saw it for what it was, a healthy challenge from a worthy competitor. Fired up by the call-out, he torched the Wolves with 30 points, five rebounds, four assists, and 12-23 from the field. After the game, he responded to Ant’s comments by saying,
“[I] used it as a motivation. When I was sitting at home and I saw it, I was like, it’s just a nod of respect…But also, that’s a no-fear mentality, and that’s why we love [Anthony Edwards].”
Like everyone else, Kai also seems to be in awe of Ant-Man and his abilities on the court. With six possible games left in the series, it’ll be interesting to see how Ant plans his revenge against the 2016 NBA Champion.
