As the 2016 Rio Olympics tip off on Saturday, the next three weeks will be a fantastic opportunity for Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving.
Irving had an amazing 2016 postseason, leading the Cavaliers and hitting the game-winning shot to bring Cleveland a championship.
Looking back, it’s hard for Cavalier fans to criticize Irving for any part of his game. He has the clutch gene and came up big when the games mattered most.
Sports fans tend to have short memories, especially after winning a championship, but it was not too long ago when fans were criticizing the point guard for “not passing enough” and playing poor defense.
Irving stepped up his defense in the playoffs, but it was ultimately the “Hero Ball” style of play that carried the Cavs to a title.
It may not have looked pretty at times, but Irving and LeBron James carried the team on their shoulders. There wasn’t always the most beautiful ball movement, but the team received timely contributions from its role players and the stars did the rest.
In Rio, Irving will not be the second star on the team. He may not even be third or fourth on the totem pole.
This will be an opportunity for Irving to play more of a “true point guard” role and facilitate the offense.
Surrounded by Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George, and other All-Stars, Irving is not expected to score 15 or 20 points on average like he has with the Cavs.
For fans who used to complain about Irving’s lack of assists, it’s safe to say he’ll be deferring to those leading scorers quite a bit in Rio.
Perhaps this is a chance for Irving to grow and develop more as a distributor. He’s still only 24 years old and even if that part of his game does not make a giant leap after spending time in Rio, the opportunity to play in his first Olympic tournament and the camaraderie between Irving and his All-Star teammates can’t possibly be a bad thing.
Irving will be a key part of a team that is the undisputed favorite to bring home the Gold Medal, which would be an unforgettable experience that few players can boast to have achieved in their careers. It would be a perfect way to follow up his NBA Finals victory.
The other aspect of Irving’s Olympic experience that will be great for the young star is the time he gets to spend with head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Coach K is spending the summer with USA Basketball for the last time in 2016 and will pass the job down to San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.
Bringing Coach K a third and final gold medal would be a fitting end to the legend’s resume with Team USA.
It’s somewhat ironic that Irving is making his first Olympic appearance when Coach K makes his last.
Coach K has referred to Irving as “the one that got away,” ever since the point guard spent his freshman year at Duke University.
Irving was recruited by the head coach and was the top prospect of his high school class.
Unfortunately, Irving only played 11 college games for Coach K and missed the majority of the season due to a toe injury.
The phenom returned to action in March of 2011, just in time to make a run with Duke in the NCAA Tournament.
Irving was one of the best players in March Madness 2011, but Duke was knocked out by Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen, despite a 28-point outburst from Kyrie in his final game as a Blue Devil.
Although Irving still learned a lot from Coach K, it was clearly not the same as if he had a full healthy season to grow and develop.
The two are still close and Coach K often jokes around with Irving during practices.
In 2014, the pair had the chance to spend time together during USA’s dominant FIBA World Cup performance, where Irving led the team to the Gold Medal of the tournament and was named MVP.
2016 will be the last time Kyrie and Coach K get to spend together on the basketball court and it has to be one of the highlights for the Blue Devil head coach and the former-Duke point guard.
Even though Kyrie did not get to spend as much time on the court with Duke as was initially hoped, Coach K is proud of the NBA champion and can still give Irving valuable lessons both on and off the basketball court.
Coach K revealed recently that he first talked with Irving about playing for USA Basketball when the point guard was just 18 years old.
Irving had been asked to play for Australia, the country where he was born, and Coach K convinced him otherwise.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Coach K said the following about Kyrie:
Kyrie was born in Australia. [After he arrived at Duke] he was asked to play in Australia for an 18- or 19-and-under team, and he was asked to play for a U.S. team. Once you make a decision as to the country you play for, you can’t change that five or six years later. I said, You’d be a great player for them. I [also] said, One day you could be the [U.S.] Olympic starting guard. I really believed it then.
When he accepted [an invitation to play for the Olympic team], I called him and said, Do you remember [our conversation]?
He said, Of course I do.
I said, Isn’t it crazy that this is going to happen? And I love it ’cause I’ve known him since he was 17. To see him develop into really as good a guard as there is in the world, that’s where he’s at right now. . . . You know, if we win this thing, that will be a pretty darn good story.
A pretty darn good story indeed. It all starts on Saturday. Let the games begin.
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