Kyrie warms up to some change
Will alter his pregame routine
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Kyrie Irving, like Gordon Hayward, went into last night’s exhibition opener against Charlotte in a bestcase situation.
Though Brad Stevens didn’t plan to play anyone more than 20 minutes, neither of his surgically repaired stars are under playing time restrictions during the preseason.
But Irving has other adjustments to make in his eighth NBA season, especially after his first one as a Celtic was truncated by two knee surgeries that ended his season in late March.
There’s a lot of miles in those 26-year-old legs, and as such the Celtics guard is tweaking his pregame routine — most mundane, but all geared to readiness.
“It’s figuring out what works best for you,” said Irving. “My routine has been pretty much the same for eight straight years, but now it’s time to do things to better suit my body.”
Health has always been a major consideration for Irving. He has played 70 or more regular-season games in a season only three times. Irving’s high-usage mark was a 75-game season in 2014-15.
Last season’s travails limited him to 60 games, so now’s the time to make adjustments.
“I feel pretty much that everyone has their routine. Mine will probably change up this season to suit me getting ready,” Irving said. “I’ll be here a little earlier, get my treatment a little earlier, be on the court earlier, prepare for a game that way.”
In the past, extra treatment has prevented Irving from running out with the rest of the team for pregame warmups. He wants this to change.
“I can run out with the guys on time,” he said. “I got tired of going out to shoot, get cold, and then have to get warm again. That change in terms of my career is pretty important, just doing things better suited to preparing for the game instead of just my warmup. You see how maniacal I am about my warmup. I (want to) run out with my teammates and be ready for it.”
In another sense, though, Irving is very much ready, thanks to his return to the court in early August. He’s no longer in search of a sign that his game is back on track.
“I’m past that point, way past that point,” he said. “I would have had a better answer for that in August. Just kind of competed and got that physicality. But this week has been about getting re-acclimated to the speed of the game.”
That’s one aspect that can’t be gauged in summer pickup games.
“Everybody can make a shot in the summer, as you can see. Everybody — everybody has a highlight tape from summertime, because pickup is pickup,” said Irving. “You can do what you want, and then you have to get into the speed of the game and consistency, and what you need to do as one of the primary ballhandlers. Whatever your role on the team, you have to fit into that.
“The difference between playing pickup hard and then playing in the season and hitting guys where they want to be hit — speed of the game — everything is beneficial. So I’m trying to push myself,” he said.
“For certain guys including myself, I’m grateful to be out there playing at this time, with teammates I kind of had wished to play with. Now we have a five we have to dial in what our chemistry is going to be like for the rest of the year. This is Day 1 of preparation for getting back into the NBA season.”
Asked about other changes to his routine, Irving smiled.
“Hope my game improves,” he said.