LAS VEGAS — Kyrie Irving was doing what he does at Day 1 of the Team USA training camp Monday: bring the ball up the court, call for the high pick and then tear apart the defense no matter what it attempts to do to slow you down. Leave a little sliver of daylight and he blows by the big and is at the rim. Switch and he backs out to isolate the mismatch. Don’t stick with the roll man and he finds him with a clean pass (this worked a couple times with DeMarcus Cousins Monday in the final scrimmage). Go under the pick and pull back and he just buries the three over the top of you.
Pretty much everything he does works out well.
That’s pretty much how Irving’s entire summer has gone — it’s good to be Kyrie Irving right now.
He signed an almost max contract extension (it’s still a lot of cash). LeBron James decides to return to Cavaliers and Kevin Love may join the two of them. Now Irving is in Las Vegas where it looks as if he will be a key part of Team USA’s plans heading into the World Cup in Spain starting in late August.
It’s good to be Kyrie Irving right now.
Of course, that LeBron thing pretty much tops it all.
“At first you were speechless because you couldn’t believe it,” Irving said of finding out LeBron was indeed coming to Cleveland. “I’ve been watching LeBron for a while now and it’s nice to be going to run along side of him and be his point guard.”
The two are planning.
“I talk to him every once in a while, I talked to him just a week ago about different pieces on the team and the things we want to do and the kings we want to accomplish,” Irving said. “It’s exciting, it’s an exciting time.”
What about Kevin Love?
“We all know, on and off the floor, how great of a player Kevin is,” Irving said. “He’s just a great player to be around, he knows the game. You watch him on film and he does a ton of things well and obviously he would add a lot versatility out there at the four and five spot for our team. But like I said if it happens great, if it doesn’t we’ll go with the pieces we have.”
A number of fans looked at Cleveland, looked at NBA rookie coach David Blatt (a name they don’t know) and wonder why LeBron would choose to go there in the prime of his career. But Irving was in Las Vegas for Summer League and has talked to Blatt about the offense — and he’s excited.
“I’m very optimistic about the things that he does,” Irving said. “The Summer League was just the icing on the cake for me, just seeing the way he ran the offense and the way he coached. He’s not too hands on. He obviously is the dictator of our offense and what needs to be done, but he obviously lets players play. That’s what you want as a player….
“(There’s) a lot of movement, and he also gives the players that deserve it the iso-motion and a lot of screen and rolls, his offense is tailored to the players he has.”
And he has elite players.
It’s a lot to take in, but right now Irving is just trying to soak up and enjoy the experience with Team USA.
“It’s not every day you have Kevin Durant running your wing or Paul George as your two or DeMarcus Cousins posting up or players like that running along side you,” Irving said. “You have to cherish this opportunity.”
It’s good to be Kyrie Irving right now.
