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Kyrie’s humble act isn’t fooling us; bring on C’s villain in Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
I don’t know what Kyrie Irving is playing at, but I don’t like it. Not one bit.
If you’ve watched the Mavericks this season, you’ve noticed a different Irving. He defers to superstar teammate Luka Doncic, he willingly facilitates, and when the time comes to take over, his bag remains as bottomless as Hermione Granger’s. He’s a force.
What he hasn’t been is a sage-burning, gibberish-spouting, vaccine-denying distraction. He bristled at his Best Supporting Actor nominations alongside LeBron James, he shot his way out of Boston after serving as a sulky anti-mentor to young stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and he made such a hash of the Nets that they shipped him to the Mavericks for pennies. Barely a year ago, he was radioactive.
But watch Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, when Irving lit up brash young Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards for 30 points in Dallas’s upset win, and there wasn’t a trace of drama to be found. In fact, Irving sounded downright gracious postgame with the TNT crew, coming off as humble, selfless, and dare I say … normal?
“I feel good out there as a point guard, especially with Luka, when we can go in tandem, he goes, I go,” Irving said. “It’s not your-turn, my-turn. I’m just looking for the next opportunity to make a play for my teammates.”
“You get motivation from failure and you get inspired… I wanted to make sure we felt good as a team after every single game.” 🙌
Kyrie speaks on stepping into a leadership role this season pic.twitter.com/cRO1IkkaTs
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 23, 2024
Irving conducted the interview with an aww-shucks smile and a doe-eyed, deferential, glancing-at-his-shoes posture. This will not do and we will not stand for it.
If the Celtics and Mavericks collide in the NBA Finals, Irving will take center stage against the team he not only spurned, but nearly destroyed, and we see right through this Mr. Congeniality routine. The real Kyrie is still in there, and we will make him show himself.
Irving is a first-team all-time Boston sports villain,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kyries-humble-act-isnt-fooling-165535431.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-05-23 16:55:35
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