Kyrie Irving Heating Up As Cavs Lightning Rod

After some inconsistent play returning from his knee surgery, Kyrie Irving has now hit a rhythm and is set to be a key for the Cleveland Cavaliers in their run to the playoffs.

There isn’t many better when it comes to winning championships than Kobe Bryant.

Walking around with five shiny purple and gold rings on his fingers, Bryant is a mastermind at knowing what it takes to achieve the ultimate goal and now in his final season, he hasn’t been afraid to offer the rest of the league advice that he previously held close to him.

After the Cavs defeated Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in the final battle between LeBron James and Kobe, the 18-time All-Star had some interesting words that one Cavalier should act upon, via Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.

"“You have to be true to who you are and authentic, and I think every team should have that lightning rod because the happy-go-lucky stuff doesn’t work, I don’t care what anybody says. You have to have that inner-conflict; you have to have that person that’s really driving these things. From the Cavs perspective, it’s hard for me to tell from afar who should be that person. LeBron’s not that person. He brings people together, that’s what he does naturally and he’s phenomenal at it, but you have to have somebody else that’s going to create that tension. Maybe it’s Kyrie.”"

Lightning rod?

Maybe it’s Kyrie Irving, huh?

That maybe is slowly turning into a more straightforward yes, as Irving’s month of March has shown an increased focus, an upswing in efficiency and a player who seems to have the capacity to take over games like no other Cavalier can.

“He’s the best point guard in our league for me,” James said about Irving after an early-season victory over the Washington Wizards, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “Every night I get to see him play the way he plays and like I told you guys the other day, he’s much more than an All-Star. That’s small peanuts on his plate. He’s much more than an All-Star. Those things will take care of itself. He’s a much better player than that.”

While James would eventually backtrack on those comments and consider Irving as one of the best point guards in the NBA, rather than the best, the curious aspect of his words is that Kyrie may be the best and most appropriate point guard for this Cleveland team.

As Bryant alluded to, to win a championship you need someone to not necessary cause conflict, but let people know when things aren’t going the way they need to be and create some good stress in the locker-room.

To have a player with Irving’s drive and stubbornness makes him a guy who can be that alpha-dog in the locker-room. He doesn’t do it vocally, instead Irving will lead and spark the Cavs with his play on the court and this is evident by the killer-instinct he possesses. Irving doesn’t care that he has James or Kevin Love on his team- when a game is in the clutch and Cleveland needs a bucket, he wants the ball. No questions asked, no ifs or buts.

“In the fourth quarter, it’s the trust factor from my teammates and the coaching staff, it’s is completely there,” Irving said to ESPN earlier in his career. “They know that going into the fourth quarter that they want the ball in my hands and they want me to be aggressive, and that’s not just aggressive for myself but more a less them. Getting to the basket opens up a lot of opportunities for my teammates and I’m just looking to get them involved and just score when the opportunity arises.”

That was back in 2013, when Irving was just in his second season in the league. For a player to have that immense confidence in himself to demand the ball in the clutch and take and make that final shot, it shows something. It displays that Irving has always had that killer mentality and belief in himself that he needs the ball in his hands late in games.

What’s ironic is that the aggressiveness that Irving spoke of back then is still apropos now.

“I just want him to attack,” coach Tyronn Lue said when asked about Irving, via Fedor. “Attack first and if it opens up to an assist, then we’ll make the play. But I just don’t think nobody can stop him one-on-one, so I just want him to get back to being confident and playing the way he’s capable of playing.”

Irving is the best finisher at the rim in this league among guards, as the innate ability he has to hit a shot amongst the trees of big-man at the basket, while putting the ball anywhere on the glass is unmatched.

There is only one way Irving can create those opportunities driving to the hole though and that is by playing with an aggressive mindset. No one can beat Irving one-on-one, as his ball handling gets any defender lost in their shoes. If the defense decides to back off from Irving, the former three-point shooting competition champion has no problems dotting the eye from beyond the arc.

It is all well and good to simply write about how damaging Irving can be but as aforementioned, he is showing it on the court in March. Irving is averaging 24.8 points, 6.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game in March, while shooting the ball at a 51.7% clip and draining 38.9% of his three-point attempts.

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There have been games this season where Irving has been almost passive in his style of play. He would pass up an open shot or simply not attack the basket with the belligerence he needs to. For the Cavs to be successful this season, when it really matters, Irving can’t be passive. He needs to channel that inner demon he has and play with the killer-mentality everyone knows he has.

Irving, of course, doesn’t come without his flaws. His defensive shortcomings have been well documented but when he is playing this good on the offensive end, you can deal with his lack of defensive instincts. Plus, when Irving is paired with Iman Shumpert or J.R. Smith (whose effort on the defensive end has been tremendous this season), it means Irving doesn’t need to guard the opposition teams best guard, which hides him on that end of the floor.

It’s no surprise that Irving looks up to Bryant in so many different ways. He has explained on multiple occasions how much Kobe has meant to his career and how he studies and models his game around him and often asks him for advice. If there was ever a time where Irving needs to listen to his idol though, it’s now. Be the lightning rod that sparks the Cavaliers into and throughout the playoffs and from what Irving has done so far in March, he is embracing that role.