Kyrie Irving saves Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving has always been a difficult player to analyze and is an individual that generates little in terms of ambivalence. He is a complex athlete and it is almost impossible to dissect what lies within the soul of someone who has an enormous capacity to turn public opinion against him, but at the same time redeem himself on a basketball court with his natural talent.

Seven years later, Kyrie returns to the NBA Finals with the forthcoming series against former team Boston set to represent the fourth of his career after playing three with the Cavaliers (alongside LeBron James). Seven years later, Irving has surpassed the second round of the playoffs, a stage which he has failed to improve upon and in those seven years he has been through thick and thin, torpedoing his own reputation as if his life depended on it. The Australian born player seemed to go from digging one hole to another and at times the 32-year-old has simply been his own worst enemy.

After a torrid time with Boston which led to Irving becoming public enemy number 1 in the state of Massachusetts following a broken promise, his high profile move to the Nets, standing up the Knicks on the way after a ‘behind the scenes agreement with Kevin Durant’ to move to Brooklyn only served to tarnish his already fragile reputation. Poor performances in the black Brooklyn jersey, especially in key moments only served to sully his profile with many thinking that the shooting guard’s best days were firmly in the past.

Off-court issues

It spoke volumes during the turn of the decade when the player was better known for his “flat earth” conspiracy theory than his prowess on the court but the Covid-19 pandemic and his subsequent views on the virus that brought his profile to a global audience. The player was blacklisted by the Nets and eventually it failed to matter that he bought a house for George Floyd’s widow or his defense of racialized people. The black community in the United States, were clearly compromised and respected voices within the game such as like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among others, were very harsh with their criticism over the point guard’s behavior.

The final straw was yet to come and his recommendation of a documentary based on an anti-Semitic book definitively destroyed his reputation in the middle of a sad sporting decline.

Surprisingly it was the Dallas Mavericks who came to the player’s rescue offering a lifeline in 2023 just as Nike decide to end their commercial agreements with the player and after the documentary recommendation, his suspension by the NBA was even requested.

An impossible redemption

In Dallas, Irving started to focus on the thing he knew how to do best, play basketball and little by little, things began to improve. The Mavericks were doing well, with ups and downs, but adding victories and establishing themselves in the middle echelons of the Western Conference.

This season, things have started to click with the Mavs and from March 7 to April 10, the team recorded 16 wins in 18 games. Throughout that stretch, Kyrie, who in that entire streak went to averaging 26 points and above 50% in field goals and 40% triples was in tremendous form leaving behind a poor first part of the season physically where he missed 22 of his 24 games this season during that stretch.

Dallas advanced to postseason and brushed aside both the Clippers (4-2) and the Thunder (another 4-2). The Western Conference finals against the Timberwolves saw the best of Irving posting: 30, 20, 33 and 16 points in the first four games... and 36 in the fifth.

What the future holds ...

Kyrie seems to have learned the hard way both on and off the court. A few years ago, Rick Carlisle said he was the best dribbler in NBA history and his recent performances in the Dallas jersey have gone some way in validating this claim as the player also now voices his views on social matters in a more subdued manner. He has supported topics such as the Palestinian cause but stayed away from insidious comments and questionable statements to focus on playing basketball and getting more people to talk about his ability on the court than anything else.

Speaking ahead of the finals,Irving was questioned on his apparent maturity and the 32-year-old stated: ...the greatest thing I learned from Boston was just being able to manage not only my emotions or just what’s going on on a day-to-day basis of being a leader of a team or being one of the leaders, and having young guys around you that have their own goals, but you have to learn how to put the big picture first,” he said.

Of course, the only way the best way he can silence the doubters from the past, would be to lead his team to a title.