Kyrie Irving, Cooking In a Safe Place
With the Cavaliers on the precipice of elimination, it’s time for Kyrie Irving to share equal ownership for Cleveland’s failures as well as their successes.
Following last year’s finale Kyrie Irving shed the sidekick label by way of one shot. The series winning shot came via a stutter step side dribble three pointer Irving has made several times before.
Making big shots has never been foreign to Irving, but he still needed that moment to set things straight and make it all clear. Game 7 of the 2016 finals, Tied at 89 and the hopes of the Cleveland faithful in his hands Irving wisely called for a screen with a minute left, in order to free himself of Klay Thompson’s length and size.
Steph Curry then switched on to Irving and I’m sure you know the rest. The 24-year old from West Orange, New Jersey closed the door and cemented an everlasting moment in NBA finals history.
That shot and the reaction it received is a microcosm of how Irving escapes criticism. To wit, it subsequently negated his poor play in games one, two and six, when he averaged just 35 percent from the field.
The debates quickly shifted toward polarizing LeBron James the following morning. Questioning how much credit the king actually deserved. Interestingly, Irving’s shot, as did Ray Allen’s three point winning shot in game 6 of the 2013 finals, perceptually harmed LeBron and catapulted Irving into a indistinct safe haven.
In the sports world, especially basketball, someone has to take majority of the glory in an effort to distinguish the two.
On so many occasions, Irving’s play is used as a barometer for the amount of praise LeBron is allowed to receive. Meanwhile, Irving is allowed to ball without a criterion — the juxtaposition is pretty blatant. When he scored 42 against Boston a few weeks ago, helping the Cavs avoid a 2–2 series tie, fans gushed and applauded.
Through the first two games of this year’s finals he’s shot just 40 percent from the field with 3.5 turnovers and the headlines remained focused on the play of LeBron James in the second half or the lack of bench production.
In game 3 Wednesday night, he dazzled throughout the night finishing with 38 points, only to have his 3-point shot attempt blocked by Thompson in an effort to take a two point lead with 26.5 seconds left in the ball game.
Instead, analysts focus lies with LeBron’s unselfishness down the stretch of the game, stamina throughout the series and implications on his legacy with a fifth finals loss in sight. Despite Irving going scoreless the final 5:28 of the 4th quarter in a pivotal NBA finals game he become an afterthought and lost in translation.
There is a shadow cast over every player in Cleveland not name LeBron James and because of that Irving has fit into a nice groove where he doesn’t receive nearly as much blame when the Cavs lose compared to the abundance of praise when he ooh and ahh’s the audience in a victory. Additionally, LeBron has to digest commentary on how lucky he is to have a young, 25 year old killer with a clutch gene to help extend his career.
A win-win situation for Irving. He possess a type of game with so much flair, it is beholden and cherished to a degree of shear astonishment, due to its level of difficulty — that any drawbacks are eclipsed.
Uncle Drew plays a style of basketball similar to Allen Iverson and Jason “white chocolate” Williams that only can be executed with a high level of skill, confidence and arrogance. He rightfully sees himself as one of the most unguardable players in the league and far from anyone’s accomplice.
LeBron and a host of other stars throughout the league view themselves in the same realm, so in return we reward them with harsh criticism, increased expectations and very little room for error. Unlike some of those top stars, Irving didn’t have a significant amount of time to truly to showcase if he could steer a team into the playoffs before LeBron returned, so the unknown plays into his advantage in that regard.
Yes, Irving is just 6"3 and not a freakish athlete by any stretch of the imagination — so its easy to conclude the amount of impact he can have on a game is substantially lower than the other bigger names. However, with his lethal arsenal of offensive wizardry in a league that favors his position — he’s at a clear advantage. Guards have more control to manipulate the game of basketball than ever before.
The label sidekick comes with a certain level of dependency. In the case of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul or John Stockton and Karl Malone that proves true. However, two dominant scoring forces co-existing like Irving and James in Cleveland pose analyzation from a different set of lenses. A duo consisting of separate ominous entities as witnessed in Oklahoma City with Westbrook and Durant require isolated and accountable interpretation.
In this scribes opinion, we should stop dissecting and questioning the fortitude of the proven multifaceted LeBron James. It’s just played out and lazy in all honesty. Rather, more should be demanded out of the young, gifted and dynamic Irving heading into his seventh season. True, the highlights are phenomenal and captivating, but there is another level for him to reach.
In order for that to occur, Irving can no longer be shielded.
