NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 22: Kyrie Irving # 11 of the Brooklyn Nets dribles against Brad … [+]
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Kyrie Irving says he was caught playing “basketball hero” earlier in his NBA career.
Irving, 28, feels he cared about individual awards as much as, or more than, team success, even though he won an NBA title alongside LeBron James in 2016 with Cleveland.
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“As a young player you think scoring a handful of points and doing a handful of things, getting really good individual credentials, and I was definitely going after those things,” Irving said after the Nets’ 125-99 open season win over the Golden State Warriors in which he went for 26 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Now that he’s paired up with his close friend Kevin Durant on the Nets team that has everything to do for the NBA title, Irving says he will no longer play hero ball and instead it celebrates team success.
“Getting here and being able to master this craft is a long journey, and learning that it’s not just about hero basketball, it’s about how the team is great, ”said Irving.
“I think I’ve caught up with that in my career several times just trying to play heroic basketball where the success of the team is really going to prove how good it is. you are an individual and how well you play your part. ”
On June 30, 2019, Irving, Durant and DeAndre Jordan agreed at 4:16 am to join a free group and try to win a title in Brooklyn.
Eighteen months later, they played a final game that was important and influential for Steph Curry and the Warriors. In Durant’s first game since going down with an Achilles injury in Game 5 of the 2019 Finals with the Warriors, he looked like his old self, gaining 22 points while driving for forts, rising for jumpers in the paint and courting three.
“I got so many calls and texts about playing again,” Durant said. “I’ve been playing this game since I was 8 years old so I came back to what I know. ”
Durant is at 12/1 odds for earning MVP honors despite recovering from a horrific injury, and looks like his old self early.
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“I didn’t know what to expect because it’s been a year and a half since his last game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “But I couldn’t tell one difference between seeing it 18 months ago and seeing it the other night.”
However, he is not trying to win any MVP awards. He is involved in a series of building blocks throughout the season that prepare him to play so well when he matters.
“I think he has an eye for the long game,” Nets coach Steve Nash said after coaching his first regular-season game. “He understands that there are still many steps to be taken. I think he enjoys the process. He is very grateful to be back on the floor. He misses her greatly, how much he loves and is committed to the sport. He has attacked relocation in that way …
“He’s not out here trying to win a scoring title, he’s just trying to play the right way so we’re lucky to have a player of his caliber but also a player of his character. ”
As for Irving, he has reversed a course from a media boy to a repeat and countless while moving with reporters.
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Unlike Durant, he’s not afraid to talk about the team’s competition goals.
Plenty of things could put the Nets off the track – a trade for James Harden or even just a persistent trade idea, injury to key players, locker room controversy.
But right now this team is cooking on every cylinder and every sign of a team that could go deep is in the postseason.
Irving said this was “just the right time, the right situation, the right environment” for him to succeed in the team’s concept.
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“I am not worried about any of these awards or goals. it doesn’t matter to me, ”he said. “I know I’m culturally proven. I don’t need an All-NBA, I don’t need an MVP, I just want to compete with a good team and say we could look back on history and say we made our way and had fun to do.
“I’m in year 10, all I want to do is enjoy every day I play basketball and get into work. Plus, I’m living my life with my family. ”
There is no more “ball ball” for now, he says.