Irving set to fill ‘potential’
Star grateful for C’s challenge
The moment the trade — the deal that once seemed to have no conclusion in sight — was finally completed, Kyrie Irving was on set, filming his “Uncle Drew” movie in Atlanta, when he got the phone call he’d long been anticipating.
More than a week of waiting, and staying patient as the trade finalized, had paid off. But the gravity of the moment was almost overwhelming as he took the call.
“I cursed probably twice and then I ran out and I took a moment outside on the side of the street of Atlanta, watching the cars pass by,” Irving recalled. “I took in that moment, because it really meant something. It was the start of something anew, and I knew I was going to come into contact with some great individuals and we were going to go after something special.”
That moment was more than a month in the making, at least since the first reports of Irving requesting a trade from Cleveland surfaced in late July. Now, as the newest member of the Celtics, the prized 25-year-old point guard can move on to the next chapter of a career that’s already been rife with success.
But in order to move to that point, it’s important to understand the context of why Irving — a superstar in his own right who was playing with LeBron James, arguably the best basketball player in the world, on a perennial NBA Finals contender — felt he needed to turn the page. The word he used during yesterday’s press conference was “potential.” Not only for his new team, but more importantly, for himself.
“When you get drafted into this great league, some of us come in at different ages, and as a 19-year-old kid, if you think about it, I’m finishing my first year of college, and life hits,” Irving said. “You have to adjust to what’s going on. It took me a little while to do that.
“It took a few things for me to go through in Cleveland for me to understand that. Learning the hard way, but we’re all human beings and I think we’ve all been through a few hard times to where it’s changed the landscape of what you think and what you feel. It was my time to do what was best for me in terms of my intentions and that’s going after something bigger than myself and honestly being in an environment that’s conducive to my potential, and I think that statement is self-explanatory.”
What’s not exactly selfexplanatory are the events that led to Irving requesting out of Cleveland. The point guard insisted yesterday he wouldn’t categorize them as “issues,” and that looking for a new situation and new experience “wasn’t a knock on anything that has transpired in my six years” in Cleveland. And despite a rumored tiff with James and wanting to get out of his shadow, Irving was complimentary of his former teammate.
Again and again, he reiterated that this was about his own journey and his own vision. Once he made that known, he let everything else fall into place.
“Throughout this time, I’ve been very patient with the approach,” Irving said. “I knew what the intent was when I asked for the trade initially, and just patiently waiting. It was honestly the most human thing I could have done which is ride the roller-coaster wave of emotions.
“It was pretty awesome the way it all transpired, because throughout this time, I didn’t say anything. Not a word. It was just assumptions and who said this in this camp, and this source, and I don’t want to dive into that, but I didn’t say anything purposely because that’s not the real life I live in. … I was just patiently waiting, and that’s been the approach the entire time.”
It’s paid off. Now in Boston, he’s more than excited about his new situation. “When Boston came a’ knockin’, I was answering,” Irving said. The opportunity for something new is appealing for him, and even more so here.
His father, Drederick, was a star at Boston University in the 1980s, and his No. 11 is retired in the rafters. In Boston, the younger Irving sees his own opportunity for greatness, wearing that same No. 11, with the chance to fulfill that potential he’s long strived for.
As he sat alongside his new teammate Gordon Hayward yesterday at the Garden, that realization began to sink in. Irving couldn’t have scripted it any better.
“When you have the unique opportunity of having special people and being part of an organization like this, they do everything possible in order to put themselves out there to make such a great thing happen,” Irving said. “You’re just appreciative, and I’m grateful. I can’t wait to get on the floor and maximize my potential. I just want to be around those incredible coaching, incredible minds and incredible individuals.
“Boston came right at the exact time, and it was meant to be that way. I trust in that and I’m glad to be here.”