Kyrie Irving has set his priorities straight after the Game 3 win. Ever since the former NBA Champion joined hands with Luka Doncic, the hoops community has been debating about the #1 player on the side. While the conversation went back and forth, it finally ended up with a 1A/1B debate. Considering Luka Magic’s MVP stats, fans adjudged Uncle Drew as the second fiddle of the Slovenian star. Nevertheless, Kai revealed that he was not affected by the label, and he pushed away his historic achievement.
During the post-game press conference, a reporter brought up the debate on labeling Kyrie as a 1B player. In response, the star guard said, “To be honest, I don’t care. I leave that for the words that everybody’s throwing around. I just care about winning basketball.” It isn’t just Kyrie Irving who had to undergo this issue.
Even Kobe Bryant went through it during his three-peat run alongside Shaquille O’Neal and it has been a problem with a team that has two superstars. However, Uncle Drew shut it down, saying he only cared about winning the game.
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Following that, he made yet another uncanny comment about his historic achievement. Tonight, Kyrie and Luka put together 33 points each and became the first backcourt duo to drop at least 30 points each into 3 games in a playoff. After the feat, a certain section of fans in the NBA world called them the greatest backcourt duo in the history of the game. Addressing that, Irving said, “It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win a ring together and I say that very responsibly too.”
On the other hand, Kyrie Irving spoke about the importance of his union with Luka Doncic. He added, “We just got to keep putting in the work… continue to feed each other that positive affirmation energy… we’re just focused on enjoying the moment.”
Kyrie Irving and his journey as a second fiddle
After a scattered journey in the league, Kyrie Irving finally seemed to have found his happy place with the Mavs. The Slovenian baller was in search of a perfect partner ever since his rookie season. Despite posting MVP numbers on the sheet, the team didn’t seem to go deeper in the playoff.
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Following the addition of Irving’s leadership and shooting prowess to the Mavs unit, the side immediately saw the results. While everything went as per plan, fans came up with the 1A/1B, questioning the superstar guard’s importance on the team. Even though Irving evaded it, saying he didn’t care about it, his journey in the league tells a different story.
During his stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he played the second fiddle to LeBron James. The 4x champ took all the limelight with the acrobatic plays, but Kai also had his fair share of importance for his crucial buckets to kick out the Warriors. On the other hand, he had a similar role when he teamed up with Kevin Durant and James Harden in Brooklyn.
Leaving the debates on the #1 player of the side, Irving has highlighted that he is only interested in winning rather than being the important player on the side. What do you make of Irving’s mindset? Let us know in the comments.
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Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow in what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.