Ky in his happy place
Old school mate: Irving in right spot
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a chance to watch his old high school teammate interact with the Garden crowd on Feb. 26, when the Memphis forward and the Grizzlies made their annual visit.
What he witnessed was something along the lines of best-case scenario, from what Kidd-Gilchrist could tell about the early connection between Irving and his new bloc of fans.
“Man, it’s amazing here. Me as a friend, I’m happy for him here,” Kidd-Gilchrist said.
Irving and Kidd-Gilchrist played together on the high school powerhouse St. Patrick in Elizabeth, N.J.
“He was always a guy that stood out. His demeanor and stuff like that. He always wanted to be great,” said Kidd-Gilchrist, who believes Irving’s career will be further elevated by his Celtics incarnation.
“Always follow Ky, him and his story, his play,” he said. “Now he’s that player, that person he always wanted to be. In the same sense, in his mind, he ain’t there yet. He just wants greatness from himself and I can expect that.”
As the basketball fans of Boston and Cleveland discovered last summer, Irving’s demand for a trade may have been unusual, but it was absolutely within the point guard’s character.
Asked about the confidence in someone who asks to be traded away from an NBA Finals entrant, Kidd-Gilchrist said, “Outside, looking in, yeah. But for him it was another challenge. He’s embraced everything here — this city, his teammates, I can see it from afar.
“We never talk about it, but I was always happy for him, whether he stayed or whether he left,” he said of Irving’s demand. “But he’s embracing everything, the wins and losses, he’s embracing the team, embracing the coaching staff. It’s cool for him.”