By George Efkarpidis / info@eurohoops.net
Los Angeles, CA – Kyrie Irving knows how it is to play alongside a superstar. He won a championship in Cleveland with Lebron James, played with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn, and now will share the floor with Luka Doncic in Dallas.
Despite being down Luka Doncic, Irving led the Mavs past the Clippers 110-104 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Irving scored a team-high 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field, 4-for-8 from 3, and 2-for-2 from the line. He also tallied five assists, four rebounds, one steal, and one block while committing five turnovers in 37 minutes of action.
After the game, he talked to Eurohoops about Luka Doncic.
“Luka is been playing professionally for so long, he has probably seen every defense. When I was 16 I wasn’t playing professionally. His childhood was different ground up in this game and to see his success at such a young age, I know I lot of hard work comes behind that and for me to be a part of his team just makes sense for me. As for the team, just don’t overthink and have fun on the court“, said Irving.
Irving also talked about the move of Kevin Durant to the Suns, explaining how he felt about him and how the situation was in Brooklyn.
As he said: “I’m just praying for his happiness, praying for his well-being,” Irving said. “We had a lot of conversations throughout the year about what our futures were going to look like. There was still a level of uncertainty, but we just cared about seeing each other be places where we can thrive — whether that be together, whether that be apart. There’s never been one moment where I felt like he’s been angry at me for decisions I’ve made or I’ve been angry at him. We just tried to understand each other a lot better and grow as human beings, grow as brothers”.
“This business changes so quickly. He’s getting a little bit older. I’m getting a little bit older. I just love the competition now that we can be at the same conference, and I welcome all that. Get to see him a little bit more, probably playing against Phoenix a lot more, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. Everything else in between — I’m just glad that he got out of there.”
Last but not least, Kyrie explained how he felt being in the hotel near the arena, while LeBron James was becoming the All-Time top NBA scorer.