Kyrie Irving is passing the ball as much as possible to their most dominant superstar. It shows an evolution in the relationship between the kid and the King, LeBron James.
Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving isn’t just a more willing passer. He’s more accepting of co-starring with LeBron James.
All the time he’s spent in the film room has aided him in doling out assists. While there’s been a focus on Irving using sets James thrived in when he was in Miami, there may not be enough talk about how why he’s done so.
See, Irving has passed the ball to James with increasing frequency over these past two and a half seasons
24.3 percent of Irving’s total passes went to James in the duo’s first year, as Irving continued the type of ball-stopping ball-dominance that contributed to the losses that the team suffered with four top-10 picks on the roster. That number increased to 28.2 percent last year, as Irving began to show signs of being a more willing passer to everyone under the watchful eye of James. This year, 34.6 percent of Irving’s passes go to James. That’s in part due to the absence of Smith. That’s mostly due to Irving’s awareness that he has to make James a weapon as much as himself; he recognizes the dominant force that James is in the scoring department.
Irving’s passing, while showing an increased respect for the game of James, also still adheres to team concepts.
Irving passes the ball the DeAndre Liggins, who’s not a notorious three-point shooter, as much as he passed the ball to a player who came to the team with the reputation of being a three-point threat in Mike Dunleavy Jr.. Irving makes those passes because Liggins works to get open and because the Cavs want to hit their shooters when they have space to make the wide open three, Irving makes the pass. While Dunleavy had a tough year, only converting 25.0 percent of his three-point attempts, he was rewarded by Liggins knocked down 44.6 percent of his.
James, who always practices playing the right way, have a star pupil in Irving.
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With 6 double-doubles, and the Cavs almost halfway through their regular season, Irving is on pace to nearly double the most double-doubles he’s ever had in a season (7 in the 2013-2014 season).
Irving’s increased passing to James shows that he’s dedicated to making the team better as a whole. He’s weaponizing their most dominant force while being the best pure scorer.
See here, how a set is run to get James a running start to the basket during the Cleveland Cavaliers Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors. While Iguodala is being bumped by Shumpert, Jefferson face guards Draymond Green on the weakside although his man is, theoretically, Kevin Durant. Durant, whose man is Jefferson, who is face-guarding Green on the corner where Green is rightly guarding Kevin Love, isn’t near enough to the basket to stop James who seemingly teleports to the rim after receiving the pass from Irving.
Even if the Warriors practice for this play, once James gets the running start, it’s unlikely that Durant will be able to stop James from scoring although he’s a true 7-footer. He’s simply too slender a player to deal with James strength at the rim.
That pass Irving made was by design.
Here, Irving is attacking the rim going baseline and as Stephen Curry falls behind him, Irving actually has an open shot at the rim with Durant on the other side. Green and Andre Iguodala are coming to help but won’t arrive in time. Amazingly, Irving finds a cutting James who dunks the ball with ferocity.
That play was likely designed as well, with the Cavs having all of their player so far outside the arc that James could get a running start to the rim. However, Irving showed that even if he had an open shot, he was still willing to pass to James. He wants to pass the ball to James.
That’s a bit different than the player who seemed like he wanted to prove himself to James in their first year together. Now, the kid has nothing to prove to the king.
Irving’s scoring talents have opened up the floor for everybody and so it’s best he attacks as much as possible but tries to give a teammate the better shot. In an article written by Brian Windhorst, Ty Lue had this to say about Irving’s scoring abilities and how it opens up the game for him as a passer.
"“I’ve always said he can’t just come down and control the game with his passing like Jason Kidd or Magic Johnson or something like that,” Lue said. “He has to look to score, and then when he gets into the paint, that’s when his passing opens up.”"
Right now, Irving’s stats are better than Curry’s in many ways. Including a slight edge in passing and field goal percentage.
| Player | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | FT | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Curry | 33.6 | 8.1 | 17.2 | .469 | 3.8 | 9.4 | .399 | 4.3 | 7.8 | .554 | 4.7 | 5.1 | .930 | 4.3 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 24.6 |
| Kyrie Irving | 34.8 | 9.0 | 18.9 | .476 | 2.4 | 5.7 | .415 | 6.6 | 13.2 | .503 | 3.8 | 4.3 | .885 | 3.6 | 5.9 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 24.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/8/2017.
Curry, who is a dominant scorer but also makes plenty of smart passes to his teammates in between getting his own buckets, is an all-around force offensively. Irving is now becoming that as well, increasing his playmaking by increasing his desire to get every player involved.
In Irving’s own words, from the same article penned by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Irving had this to say about how he’s blossoming as a passer:
"“It’s paying more attention to details and understanding I have a lot of weapons to utilize,” Irving said. “So coming down and being ready to command the game in a way that is best tailor-fitted for the team.”"
While James chipped in with these kind words:
"“It’s the evolution and growth in my point guard,” LeBron James said. “He’s studying the game, he’s watching the game, and now he’s actually going out and playing the game. Just read and reacting, and just continues to get better every single day, every single month. And he’s showing that.”"
Irving is becoming more dominant because of his trust in the dominance of James. In playing the right way.
This is the superstar duo that the Cleveland Cavaliers have always deserved.
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Do you think that Kyrie Irving has shown a greater respect for LeBron James’ game? Do you think it has anything to do with his increased passing to the King? Let us know in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.
*Kyrie Irving’s passing statistics reference from stats.nba.com