In arguably the most exciting off-season in the history of the franchise, or even the city itself, two superstars were brought in to revive a Cleveland Cavalier team that could never get over the loss of its former “savior” in four seasons without him.
But then LeBron James announced an offseason shocker in July: he was returning to his roots in Akron and coming back to play basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
About a month after that, another shocking deal was made by Cavs general manager David Griffin. The number one overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Andrew Wiggins, was shipped out with the number one overall 2013 NBA Draft Pick, Anthony Bennett, with Philadelphia forward Thaddeus Young and some picks in a three-team deal that landed Kevin Love in Cleveland.
The town was buzzing with excitement, and everyone was hopping on the bandwagon. After four seasons of irrelevance, the Cavs were all ESPN and national media could talk about. Fans and analysts speculated just about how lethal LeBron James and Kevin Love could be with that other guy in the bunch, Kyrie Irving.
You know, the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year. The 2013 NBA Three-Point Shootout Champion. The 2014 NBA All-Star Game MVP. All of this was accomplished by the time he was just 22 years old. Yet, because of the new flavors of the month, he was often pushed behind the returning James and the new guy in town, Kevin Love.
Now this is not saying he was completely overlooked, but over the summer it was often “the big three of LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.” There were many people in the summer that questioned the true ability of Irving, and if he could work with true talent around him. He immediately answered that notion when he won the 2014 FIBA World Cup MVP.
“But that’s not NBA level competition,” some said. So we fast forward to the regular season. Would Irving be able to share the ball with his two brand-new superstar teammates?
At first, Irving was having a bit of a tough time adjusting to his role. He took a lot of shots and he was having chemistry issues with everyone out of the gate, which was a team-wide issue anyways. After a 1-3 start, the first ridiculous rumor of the season came out with some genius reporter speculating of a possible Kyrie Irving-Rajon Rondo swap, but that obviously didn’t happen.
After a season-ending achilles injury to Anderson Varejao and a sabbatical rest period for LeBron James , the Cavs were really struggling in late December and early January. The team had lost nine of its last 10 games, and Irving and Love weren’t getting the job done. There were rumors of firings, trades and about anything else media outlets could think of to get click-bait.
But then, moves were made. Dion Waiters was sent to Oklahoma City in a three-team deal with the Knicks that landed J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in Cleveland. Two days after, David Griffin went out and got a player he’s coveted for quite some time, Timofey Mozgov from Denver in exchange for a draft pick. With Shumpert still recovering from a shoulder injury, Smith and Mozgov were searching for their role on the team and trying to develop chemistry with their new team.
But once LeBron James returned, everything started to click (imagine that). The effort and body language was refreshing. Chemistry was almost immediate with everyone, but the one person that it impacted stuck out like a sore thumb: Kyrie Irving.
Irving started to buy into putting in the work on defense and shut down his opponents game-in and game-out. The list of guards he locked up during the team’s 12-game winning streak included multiple NBA superstars like Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard and Michael Carter-Williams.
What was most impressive about his play during that stretch was his efficiency on the offensive end of the floor. Irving shot 51 percent from the field, including 49 percent beyond the arc. Did you see his 55-point takeover against Portland???
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It also seems that he’s focused on distributing the ball to his teammates more than he has in the past, which is something fans should be excited about as the team’s floor general. He’s even shown more emotion than he ever has before.
In the first-half of the NBA season, Kyrie Irving is well on his way to silencing his critics for good. His defensive effort has been superb, he is shooting the ball exceptionally well and he is playing within himself.
If Irving’s play is anything like it was in these past two months, Cleveland should expect something special as the NBA Playoffs draw nearer.