Kyrie Irving is extremely appreciative of the life he leads as an NBA player. He understands he put in a lot of work to get to the level he’s reached, but it’s a privilege to spend your days playing a sport when millions are doing hard labor. Josh Hart brought this up in March 2024 and Irving echoed it recently.
“I think Josh Hart had a tremendous quote where he talked about people having 12-hour shifts and we get to go out there and play the game that we love. I think that hit the nail right on the head for how we feel. That doesn’t take away from our competitive spirit or what we want to achieve as legacy members of the NBA.
“I want the next generation to have this game as an art space and not just business. You should enjoy the competition and going against the best. I don’t want to overspeak, but that’s where my focus has been. Getting up every day, looking at my kids, my wife, and all the kids playing basketball.”
Hart’s quote showed his humility after people started treating him like an iron man for playing 48 minutes a game and carrying a heavy-minutes load. His statement put into perspective that what he does isn’t nearly as hard as what other people go through.
“Our job is to play basketball. You’ve got people who are waking up at 6 AM doing 12-hour shifts. Those guys are tired. For us, we’re playing a game.”
Hart went through a spell where he subbed out once over three games, showing how the Knicks are using him. He even discussed how his religious faith gives him the energy to continue competing.
Kyrie Irving Is Hustling As Hard As Possible
The version of Kyrie Irving this season is a version we haven’t seen before. He knows he’s sharing the court with a superior offensive threat in Luka Doncic, so to maximize Luka’s performance, Irving floats around as the perfect teammate.
On offense, Irving can wait in the corner, be in screen actions with Doncic, and create isolation offense for himself. He fits seamlessly with Doncic but that’s also because he’s worked hard to be the perfect teammate. Irving has been reinvigorated defensively, arguably ranking as one of the Mavs’ top-three defenders in this postseason run.
Even in games where his shot isn’t falling, Irving is impacting the game massively through his playmaking, defense, and even rebounding. He’s averaging 23.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 39.9 minutes per game through the 2024 Playoffs.
Some have argued that Irving has been Dallas’ best player through the Playoffs because Doncic has been playing through a myriad of injuries. The fact that Dallas has a 2-1 second-round lead over the No. 1 seed would not have been possible if Doncic was alone and trying to fight through injuries.
Irving has been the perfect co-star for Doncic and it’s a credit to his willingness to alter his game despite being in Year 13.
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