Irving reflects on legacy
Puts career in perspective through All-Star experience
On a night of crowd-pleasing moments, none tapped into the NBA’s sense of sentimentality like the gathering of legends at midcourt during a break in the action of Sunday’s All-Star Game in Charlotte, N.C.
George Gervin, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson — he received the most boisterous reception of all — and David Robinson all gathered around Bill Russell, cane in hand and seated in a chair for a group photo.
The importance wasn’t lost on Kyrie Irving, who probably more than ever can sense when he’s part of this kind of old-timers selfie.
The Celtics guard has now played in six All-Star Games, and to hear him tell it, for the first time he can see the evolution of NBA superstars. That’s because he’s smack in the middle of the succession, Sunday night with Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade at one end of the timeline, followed by LeBron James, a bunch of players in the middle and, at the young end, the Philadelphia duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
“KD (Kevin Durant), Steph (Curry) — they’re 30 now, and I’m right on their heels,” Irving said. “I’m turning 27 next month, and then you have Joel (Embiid) and Ben (Simmons), young guys, D-Lo (DeAngelo Russell), those guys are going to be the future of our league on consecutive All-Star teams, and I’m going to be right there with them.
“But I’m going to be that guy like Bron. He’s the captain, but we all understand he’s put in an unbelievable body of work and we respect who he is. And those guys are trying to get to that point, just like I’m trying to get to that point and build a legacy for myself in this league. And then you see all the great players in this league – George Gervin, MJ, David Robinson. They give it to us, and we give it back to the legends.”
And stepping into the midst of this situation never gets old for Irving, who missed the Celtics’ wins against Philadelphia and Detroit before the All-Star break while rehabbing a right knee sprain.
He used the All-Star Game to work his knee and body back into shape in advance of Thursday night’s stretch run opener in Milwaukee, with another test against the conference’s elite two games later in Toronto.
“I missed two games in eight days. It was great to get out and play the game that I love,” he said. “Look forward to next Thursday and getting back with the team, but this is always fun, really special for me. At this point in my career, I appreciate it a lot more. Young guys are going to be the future of the league.”
And for the first time, Irving is shedding his young guy credentials, as evidenced by his sometimes frustrating experience with his younger teammates on the Celtics.
It’s not always easy becoming one of the old guys.
“It’s an incredibly humbling experience,” he said. “It’s gone by so fast — the vets told me it will go by so fast. It’s my sixth All-Star Game, and yeah, it’s gone by so quick. Seeing where everybody has ended up in their careers at this point, some of us on different teams, some former teammates, that’s not normal in the league all the time that we’re all still AllStars and at a very high level. Just great to see where our futures end up.”
Nowhere is that phenomenon more evident than in Wade and Nowitzki making their final All-Star appearances in Charlotte.
“Watching D-Wade and Dirk getting retired from the All-Star game is crazy,” Irving said. “I’ll be there one day. I appreciate that. Very important. Legends deserve to go out the way they like to. We all appreciate them. Nobody had any second opinions about putting them in. They deserve that. I’m glad I got to share it with them.”