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This is a different Kyrie Irving. Two feet firmly planted in the present, preaching inside Dallas’ huddle before running out before the world. He lavishes postgame affirmations to a largely inexperienced roster that follows each crafty step of his signature Anta sneakers — as they follow Luka Dončić’s dribble. At 32, Irving’s fourth stop of his 13-year NBA career has produced the exact circumstances his second pro situation was supposed to beget with Boston.
Irving’s Mavericks now face his former Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals that begin Thursday night. That opposing side happens to be hoping for key contributions from 7-foot-2 center Kristaps Porziņģis — the very All-Star talent Dallas once hoped would serve as Dončić’s co-star for a decade of chasing titles like this.
It’s a rich irony almost destined within the NBA’s modern world of team building, one in which the league’s new collective bargaining agreement should only further encourage player movement and trade activity. And there are always reunions waiting to cap each season of reality television. Jrue Holiday was a Celtics adversary of postseasons past until he wasn’t, and his former Milwaukee team could have taken the place of Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals along a different timeline. That series still pitted the Celtics’ All-NBA playmaker, Jayson Tatum, against a former Boston teammate in Aaron Nesmith, who guarded his assignment like they were back behind closed-practice doors.
For Irving and Porziņģis, each a basketball lifetime away from their pasts, these respective full circles are conjoining almost as they were supposed to unfold with the opposing teams of this Finals matchup. How those situations crumbled, and how Irving and Porziņģis both finally arrived at this stage, are stories rife with All-Star melodrama — that nearly intersected in a trade for one another along the way. But they are also stories about growth.
Irving, remember, requested out of Cleveland in 2017 and pinpointed Boston to find his respite from LeBron James’ shadow, having reached three straight NBA Finals together. Irving was…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/2024-nba-finals-inside-kyrie-irvings-and-kristaps-porzingis-paths-to-redemption-134428992.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-03 13:44:28
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