http://www.slamonline.com/1-direction/#.VL_mPkfF8gl
New feature article on Kyrie for SLAMOnline:
1 DIRECTION
The youngest and flashiest of Cleveland's new Big Three,
22-year-old Kyrie Irving is about to explode on the League.
And there's no turning back.
The way he treats defenders, Kyrie Irving should come with a warning label. Like, the League should stitch one of those bright orange "Danger: Risk of Electric Shock" swatches on his jersey. Something just obvious enough to make opponents think twice before leaning on his
crossover, or biting on an in-and-out move. Because sometimes, when Kyrie is really flowing out there, effortlessly whipping the ball back and forth between his legs like it's an extension not only of his hands, but of his brain, too, it's downright cruel.
After a mid-August Team USA scrimmage in Chicago, during which media members atop bleachers mumble things like, "They can't guard him" as Irving slices through traffic against some of the best in the game, Blazers guard Damian Lillard considers Kyrie's sinister handle.
"I've seen him plenty of times just snatch dudes around,and it looks like he's doing it on purpose," Lillard suggests. "Like maybe he could have went by him once, but he'll bring it back again, snatch him back again. Instead of just going, he'll snatch you around for a second."
See, when it comes to crossing up the competition, Kyrie has no chill. Of course, Irving's game goes deeper than a mixtape of broken ankles (though a highlight reel of his victimizations on the NBA hardwood would rival anything on YouTube at present). Irving was named MVP of the summer's FIBA World Cup, a tournament the United States won easily, despite the absence of stars like Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Kyrie's new teammate in Cleveland, LeBron James. At just 22 years old, the Australian-born, West Orange, NJ-raised playmaker is also already a two-time All-Star, a Rookie of the Year winner and 2014 ASG MVP.
And, finally, the world will get to see Irving do his thing in the Playoffs this season, thanks in large part to the Cavaliers welcoming home the biggest free agent inLeague history. Alongside James, Irving's uniquely entertaining brand of basketball will from here on out be on display—and on trial—under the brightest lights, and though Bron is unquestionably the King wherever he goes, even he called the Cavs "Kyrie's show" during the preseason.
Fast forward to early December. A night after reveling in the launch of his first signature sneaker,
the Nike Kyrie 1, Irving is carving up the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. LeBron and Kevin Love, the third member of Cleveland's Big Three, are ice cold. Irving, however, is red hot. He pours in 23 first-half points, shooting 7-10 from the field. Near halftime, he puts Knicks point guard Shane Larkin on skates with a dizzying combo of a hesitation move, crossover and spin, all in one motion. Later, he puts Pablo Prigioni in a blender. Jose Calderon and Tim Hardaway Jr get the business before the night's over, too. Kyrie finishes with 37 points, dazzling the New York crowd and a national TV audience, capping off his performance by blowing past Iman Shumpert with a right-to-left crossover and floating a game-sealing lefty layup over Amar'e Stoudemire.
In the Cavs locker room, not a soul is fazed. "Oh, I'm used to it," Cleveland big man Tristan Thompson says of Kyrie's heroics. "Y'all might be surprised, but I'm used to it. I've been with him for years, so I know what he can do. I expected him to make that shot, when the game is on the line. Just another game-winning play to add to his résumé."
"I always knew he was a great finisher," LeBron says moments later, surrounded by a horde of reporters. "I think he's even better than what I even thought. As far as finishing around the rim, he's probably one of the greatest this game has ever seen. I've never seen someone finish how he finishes underneath the rim. It's unbelievable. With both hands."
The irony in Irving's spectacular performance at The Mecca is that he caught as much heat for his stat line as he did praise. Thirty-seven points? Cool. Only 2 assists, and none until the fourth quarter? Not elite point guard numbers, they say.
But to come down on Kyrie for his lack of dimes on any given night is to misunderstand who he is on a basketball court. Forgetting for a moment that watching a 22-year-old score damn near 40 in the most famous arena in all of basketball, in an ultra-efficient and aesthetically beautiful manner should be considered a treat, not a Twitter joke, Kyrie Irving is—by his own admission—not a "traditional" point guard. With one of the prettiest jumpers in the L, a devastating first step and ballhandling tricks like few others walking the planet, Irving simply won't fit what a point guard looked like in 1995, or even 2005 (when he was 13). You keep worrying about what position he plays, and he'll worry about juking cats out of their shorts for 48 minutes. What's the Fabolous line? "Back and forth, I'll likely/Shake the checks off your Nikes."
With James—among the best passers to ever lace 'em up—able to create and facilitate, Kyrie is adapting to playing whatever role he needs to in order for the Cavs to win. "It's great to have a combination like that, where he can take over the scoring, I take care of the point guard duties, and we come out of here with a win," James would say that night in the Big Apple. "He was spectacular."
The Cavs are currently 22-20, still staring up at Atlanta, Washington, Toronto and Chicago in the Eastern Conference, but gaining some steam after the acquisitions of JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. Irving, now in his fourth season, is logging more minutes than ever before in his NBA career (38.3 per game), while posting 21.1 ppg, 5.3 apg and 3.1 rpg.
"I'm riding with Coach Blatt. He's such a great coach and has such a great basketball mind," Irving says of David Blatt, the Israeli League coaching legend now charged with pushing all the right buttons in Cleveland. "He's teaching me how to lead and how to win. I think that's the most important thing for me right now, is my growth as a player, learning how to control a game and how to commit to the defensive end on a consistent basis. That's what separates the good players from the great players, is having consistent effort from game to game.
"We won ugly tonight," Kyrie adds, downplaying his personal virtuoso MSG performance. "The only thing that we're going to remember about this is getting the W."
While Kyrie poses for the photos that accompany this story in a private room at a downtown Chicago hotel, months before the 2014-15 NBA season tips off, the juxtaposition of Irving's youth and his newfound great responsibility smacks you in the face. His carefree "I'm just a kid" smile crossed with his commercial savvy in front of the camera. His stern poses interrupted by Team USA teammate James Harden poking fun at him from the doorway. His mouthing every word to Kanye West's "Power" contrasted with his insistence soon thereafter that he be able to take his new Aussie-themed Nike shirt home with him ("It's a kangaroo with a number 2 on it! I'm just gonna keep this on.").
Kyrie drifts between serious and silly, not out of faux persona for the recorder or the lens, but out of, well, being 22 years old and having LeBron James as your new runningmate. The pressure is intense, and the stakes are high. But sheesh, it sure is a hell of a lot of fun on the fastbreak every night, too.
Irving inked a five-year, $90 million contract extension in July, one day before LeBron's homecoming was made official. Which begs the question: Exactly when and how did Kyrie find out about The Decision, Part II? And how did he react?
"I dropped a tear," Irving says, laughing.
There's a pause. OK, so he didn't actually drop a tear.
He tries to start over. "I found out when everybody else found out," he says, before laughing again.
Now halfway into the season, the exact mechanics of how it all went down are history. All told, Irving went from playing out the string with a disappointing, undermanned roster destined for the Lottery to the most talked-about team in the League. The only way to describe it, he says, is that it's been a surreal year.
"Everything's been happening so fast," Irving says, his goals to bring a chip to Cleveland more crystallized with the arrival of LeBron and Love. "Last year, it was a growth year. I had to really figure out who I wanted to be. All the things we were going through, all the turmoil we were going through with our team. It really shaped how I attacked the summer and how I came into this year. I'm glad I went through it, looking back on it. When I was in it, I hated it. But now, you get to reap the rewards now, because we have so many great players, such a great locker room, such a great team now. I'm happy. The confidence I have in myself goes beyond on the court. I've had it since I was a kid, and it's going to continue to grow."
Austin Carr, better known to Cleveland fans as "Mr. Cavalier," played nine seasons with the team back in the ‘70s, and is now a full-time analyst for Cavs television broadcasts and the team's Director Community of Business Development. When the Cavs made Kyrie the top overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft after playing just a handful of games at Duke, Carr took one look at the kid and said he could be the best PG ever. With Irving now on his third coach, finally with the pieces to a title puzzle around him, Carr is sticking to his story.
"The kind of career he's having, and going to have," Carr says of Kyrie, "a Championship is about the only thing left."
Given his age, and his lack of post-season experience, it's still too early to project Irving's trajectory. As Cavs veteran Shawn Marion says, "I can't sit here and predict the future." Wherever his eventual rank among the greats, you won't want to miss a second watching him get there.
Because the coolest thing about Kyrie Irving is that he's as much Uncle Drew as he is an NBA point guard. He plays with enough skill and intelligence to win games, yet still enough freedom and spirit to break ankles just because it's fun. Fans and opposing guards alike are circling the Cavs on their calendars as much for Kyrie's crossover as for LeBron's, well, LeBron. Like Lillard, who lists Kyrie alongside LBJ and Stephen Curry as his favorite fellow stars to watch when the Blazers have an off night.
"Not a lot of guys can do the things with the ball that Kyrie can do. When he's making his moves, if you start going side-to-side with him, eventually you're going to get lost," Lillard says. "When I see him coming up on the schedule, I know I've got to get some rest that night and be ready."
Now it's time to see if the Playoffs are. Final warning.
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