Kyrie Irving can play with anybody and everybody
The Dallas Mavericks’ newest star just made his home game debut and reporters won’t stop asking about whether he can work off-ball with Luka Doncic.
Kyrie Irving made his debut at home with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, which resulted in a disappointing 124-121 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite the loss, Irving was impressive in his home debut, scoring 36 total points, 26 of which came in the 4th quarter alone, the most points by any Mavs player in the final period so far this season.
The Doncic-Irving duo...er, team-up?
Since Irving made his debut with the Mavericks, he’s been playing elite basketball, averaging 28.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1.3 steals. Luka Doncic’s return after his heel injury was much anticipated as everyone was anxious to see how the star duo would perform together. Unfortunately for the Mavs, they are 0-2 in games Doncic and Irving have played together. In the last seconds of the game against the Timberwolves, the two were playing almost too nice with each other as neither took the lead to make the shot, instead passing the ball back and forth to end the game in a 3-point loss.
Clearly, the two are capable of not being ball hogs. Media questions until now have been focusing on whether or not Irving and Doncic can work off-ball together, to which Irving said he supposes that’s just a “trendy question”.
“All I know is playing basketball with a lot of high level, high IQ players and making it work,” said Irving. “You throw me out there at the YMCA or the boys and girls club, and you ask me to play with a bunch of kids, I’m going to be the same way. If you ask me to play with the best players in the world and be selfless, I’m willing to do that.”
“I don’t know what this misconception is, whether or not I can play off the ball, but every single time I step foot out there, I get a chance to really prove it to myself, that I can play with anybody and everybody and still be efficient and be myself.”
Irving also urged against using the word “duo” to describe he and Doncic, saying it doesn’t acknowledge the work the other teammates contribute.
Irving’s future with Dallas
That might be another question that’s irritating Irving - his future with the Mavericks. When they signed Irving, the Mavs were looking at a possible two-year extension if things went well, but nothing is certain.
When he was with the Brooklyn Nets, Irving had asked for a five-year max contract, which they were not willing to give. There are rumors that he could reunite with LeBron James in Los Angeles or even join Kevin Durant in Phoenix. At the moment, he’s not willing to focus on the question about his future. He said it’s “emotionally draining” to try to think about the long term.
“I would love to. Just out of respect of you guys and everybody else the rest of this season continuously asking me that, it just puts unwarranted distractions on us and our team,” said Irving.
At the moment, the Mavs have much more offensive power than they did before, but losing Dorian Finney-Smith has negatively impacted their defense. If the Mavs don’t end up making the playoffs, Irving’s future with Dallas could be an even bigger question mark.