NBA: Kyrie Irving, the masked assassin
A certain point guard left the greatest basketball player in the world to join the Boston Celtics before this season began. That point guard is Kyrie Irving.
Though we are still early in the season, the Boston Celtics sit atop the Eastern Conference. To say the least, Irving is playing like he is possessed, as he is breaking ankles all around while making the ball swish through the hoop. How do you defend him? You pretty much have to hope he has an off day.
When he had a fractured knee in 2015, we saw Irving come back with a vengeance in 2016 when he sunk the 4th quarter dagger in Game 7 of the NBA Finals to seal the deal and win the Cleveland Cavaliers their first NBA championship.
There is nothing that a man cannot accomplish when the drive to succeed is anywhere close to what Irving's is. Even after the recent injury to his face and the plastic mask he has had to wear, his game has hardly been affected. In fact, he has arguably been better after the injury.
But the real question brewing in every basketball fan's mind is simple. Will he be able to take his team past a certain beast called LeBron James, a player who has been to seven consecutive finals and is still performing at a level that's surreal, to get to the NBA Finals?
We can't wait for that clash if and when it happens in the playoffs. LeBron may get to his eighth straight NBA Finals with Isaiah Thomas back on the team and the rest of the team performing in top gear, but Irving won't go down easily.
The Celtics have been impressive by keeping their run going even when Irving missed a few games earlier in the season, as the likes of Marcus Smart, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who is as good a rookie as any, led the way.
When the Celtics beat the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the only game in which they have met so far this season, we figured out that the former indeed means business. Will Irving be able to carry the Celtics past the biggies in the Eastern Conference to potentially have a shot at knocking off the defending champs in the NBA Finals?
Only time will tell, but the team certainly have the parts to push them through.
When Irving decided to move to Boston, many called it a selfish and foolish move, as he was supposedly reducing his chances of winning another ring just to leave LeBron. Now this masked assassin seems to be laughing at those naysayers each time he skates past defenders to score on cue. We have a game on our hands, people.