How Kyrie Irving's height was rendered irrelevant due to his mastery of ball control in his game
Despite his controversies, Kyrie Irving has racked up many career accolades since being drafted No. 1 by Cleveland in 2011. These include Irving being a seven-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA team member and an NBA champion. "Uncle Drew" has accomplished all of this at just 6-foot-2, making him pound-for-pound one of the most impressive players in the history of the NBA.
So on that note, here is how Irving overcame his physical limitations through his elite offensive repertoire.
How Kyrie Irving became one of the premier players in the NBA
Kyrie Irving is best known for his elite ball control, often making it look like he has the ball on a string. This, combined with his quickness and hesitation and crossover moves, helps him get to his spots with ease.
Irving is also a master at hitting off-balance jumpers off the dribble, particularly stepback jumpers. His tough shot-making ability has led him to hit countless contested clutch shots throughout his career.
This includes his clutch dagger 3-pointer in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals against Golden State.
Irving also knocked down his latest buzzer-beating game-winner against Toronto earlier this week.
Besides his impressive handle and tough shot-making ability, Irving is a terrific finisher in the paint. He often converts on some of the most challenging finishes imaginable, particularly reverse layups and other difficult layups in traffic. Irving almost always finds a way to put the right spin and touch on the ball.
However, Kyrie Irving’s elite handle is still undeniably the key to his game. Early in his career, Irving spoke about his various moves off the dribble and broke down his in-game thought process.
"I have counters to every move that I do," Irving said.
"What I want (fans) to realize is that when I make a move, it's really a simple move. It's just done with pace, and it's done off a counter of something. I only do those moves when someone kind of puts me in that position.
“When someone makes me feel uncomfortable, I'll always have a change of pace or have a change of direction to kind of keep them off balance. They can only guess, so you're in control. That's what offensive guys need to remember," Irving continued.
Irving then spoke about where he learned his elite handle, to which he explained that he started off by practicing simple moves. He then described how he later progressed to more complex variations and combinations of those simple moves.
"Everybody always asks, 'What did you do as a kid to get your handle like this?' And I tell them, 'I just practiced simple moves first — like crossovers, between the legs, behind the back — and then I would work on combinations in isolation situations by myself. Then I would have counters to every move, always being prepared for that — not only that second move, but that third, fourth, fifth move just in case,” Irving said.
"You always want to have those just-in-case moves in your repertoire. You want to keep the defense guessing. I don't want guys to know this is the move I'm going to do right now just because they watched it on film. If he knows what move I'm going to do, I'm going to have about two, three counters to it. That's kind of how I practiced it,” Irving continued.
Irving’s offensive repertoire has progressed even more since his early seasons. In an interview a few years after that last one, Irving described his dribbling as a weapon.
“It’s definitely a weapon. But the fact that it’s a weapon with other weapons makes it a little more dangerous by being able to understand where my dribble can get me, what it can get me out of and how much more effective it can be if I utilize it more efficiently,” Irving said.
Overall, there’s no denying Kyrie Irving’s elite skill set. In recent years the biggest question surrounding him has been his availability, as injuries and off-court controversies have limited his effectiveness. But even at age 30, whenever he’s on the court, Irving is still as lethal as ever.
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