SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Kyrie Irving arrives in Dallas as an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star and one of the best scorers in the league. Adding him to the roster gives the Mavericks another star player to pair alongside Luka Dončić. Although Irving is starting fresh with a new team, some of the people now surrounding him have known him long before he became a Maverick.
Less than a week after joining the Mavericks, Irving is still getting to know some of his new teammates, coaches and staff. Two people who are already familiar are head coach Jason Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison.
Harrison has known Irving for a very long time, dating back to before either of them was in Dallas.
“It goes back years with Nico Harrison,” Irving said. “Just seeing me in high school, seeing the potential that I had and being part of one of the greatest brands in the world. It was kind of like a matchup that was made way in the past. A relationship that was meant to grow, and that’s what all we’re doing now.
“I feel like I’m in a different place in my life at 30 years old, so he’s at a different place being the GM, and now we can unite and do some great things together hopefully in the future.”
Irving knows Kidd from a different standpoint.
Long before Kidd became his coach, Irving was a fan.
“J-Kidd, I’ve been watching him since I was a little pup, going to the Nets games and watching him put up dang near triple-doubles every night,” Irving said. “Of course, I watched him when he was in Dallas, watched him when he was in Phoenix, but I got to watch him up close when I was in New Jersey. So there’s a respect there that I have for his legacy, his Hall of Fame career and what he brings as a coach. Nico and J-Kidd are two special people for sure.”
Kidd is far from the only point guard Irving studied while developing his game.
Isiah Thomas is one of them.
“Other point guards I looked up to, Isiah Thomas,” Irving said. “I mean, I wear number 11, of course. That’s my guy right there. He’s helped me out a lot throughout my career.”
Another point guard Irving took lessons from was Deron Williams.
“Deron Williams for sure, going to see him live up close when I was 17, 18, going to his elite camp,” Irving said.
Allen Iverson also made an impact on Irving beyond basketball.
“AI transcended culture on and off the court,” Irving said. “Just taught you how to be yourself really.”
All of those influences have given Irving pieces that helped shape his own game.
“I’ve tried to take different strengths from point guards that I’ve watched,” Irving said. “John Stockton, of course, just out of respect, for doing dang near everything on the court: steals, assists, being efficient with the jump shot. Oscar Robertson. The list can go on and on. Pete Maravich was one of my favorites for sure as a PG.”
The list continues.
“Steve Nash has been on there too,” Irving said. “There’s a bunch of other guys too that I’m missing.”
One of the biggest influences on his game is someone he knows personally.
“Most important, my godfather, Rod Strickland too,” Irving said. “A lot of my talent from my family roots comes from him and come from my dad ultimately, but my dad wasn’t a point guard. He was a shooting guard.”
Both helped Irving develop into a player who does not fit neatly into one role.
“They both taught me, I feel like, the nuances of being a point guard and a shooting guard,” Irving said. “That’s why I like calling myself a hybrid and I like being in the middle of, like, the Kobes, and I have a Rod Strickland-type finish in games where I love the fact that I could be Ray Allen and then also be somehow J-Kidd. Just allowing myself to be a hybrid of them guys.”
Kobe Bryant is another player who influenced Irving. When asked about Bryant, Irving becomes emotional.
“I’m really sensitive about just speaking on Kobe because of his family and out of respect,” Irving said. “We always are reminiscing about him, especially those that he impacted.”
Instead of only speaking about Bryant, Irving wants to keep his memory alive through the way he lives.
“So I could go on and on about him, but I love him, I love his family, and I wish them nothing but the best,” Irving said. “I’m always trying to keep his memory alive by being myself.”
More Than Basketball
When the Mavericks acquired Irving, they knew what they were getting.
They were getting another star player to play alongside Dončić and help a team that reached the Western Conference finals last season take another step forward.
Irving hopes to do more than that in Dallas.
“I think what I brought to every team was just a sense of genuine love for the game of basketball, a student of the game,” Irving said. “Most important for me was just loving on people, being there for them in whatever capacity I could be. Learning about new people coming from different places.”
Playing basketball has allowed Irving to meet people he may have never encountered otherwise.
“This business, this industry that we’re in, this game, it unites a lot of people,” Irving said. “So I like to utilize basketball as a vehicle to spark different conversations, but also get to know people and what they think about the world and how they feel about themselves ultimately, and how I can be of service if they need me.”
Irving knows he has to continue mastering basketball, but the game has also taught him about people.
“So basketball is one thing to take care of,” Irving said. “It’s an art form. It’s a craft that I dedicate myself to. And I’ve learned so much being in different situations and circumstances, playing with loads of teammates, getting to know personalities, getting to know people’s ticks, strengths and weaknesses.”
Those experiences have also shaped how he leads.
“So I’ve just really been an observer, as well as a person that leads by example,” Irving said. “All in all, I just really enjoy every learning experience that I could speak on now because I wasn’t always in this balanced place to say that impacting people is really why I’m here.”
Being Balanced
It hasn’t always been easy for Irving to find balance in life.
Ever since he was young, Irving has asked himself questions about life beyond basketball.
“What I was seeking, when I was always going through my childhood, I had questions about things outside of the game of basketball, right?” Irving said. “How do I develop better as a human being, as a man, as a thinker, as a curious person?”
Sometimes those parts of his personality do not fit neatly into the basketball world.
“That’s my personality, and sometimes those personality traits don’t fit well into basketball arenas all the time because it’s really just about the game and performing well and executing,” Irving said.
Irving has learned that he needs room for both.
“So I just had to find that balance of how I pour myself fully into basketball and how I pour myself fully into learning more about who I am and where I come from,” Irving said. “That duality is something I hold dear to my heart because I know I need that balance.”
Irving is grateful for basketball and everything it has given him and his family.
“Basketball makes me extremely happy,” Irving said. “It provides unbelievable things for me and my family, but I don’t take it for granted, and I’m not selfish about my talent. I wanna share it with others. I wanna share it with my teammates. I wanna share it with the world.”
Part of that balance is separating basketball from his personal life.
“But also respect is most important, especially in the basketball arena, ‘cause with media and things that go on sometimes, the disrespect can be very personal,” Irving said. “So learning the difference between what’s personal in the business and on the court and in the basketball game, and then what’s personal for me off the court and what I invest my time into, reading books, meditating, praying, getting closer to God, getting closer to my family, getting closer to friends and ultimately impacting the community to help steer the youth in a better direction than what I came up in.”
Irving does not go into detail about everything he witnessed when he was younger, but those experiences are part of why he wants to help young people navigate similar problems.
“I don’t necessarily speak about what I saw as a child, but I saw enough to know that I needed to make a change in the next generation’s lives,” Irving said. “Because if they saw similar things that I seen, and they don’t go to therapy or they don’t have help or they don’t have the necessary services to call or be around or they don’t have a mentor or a guide, it can be tough to navigate through life.”
Irving knows what it is like to struggle.
“And I think that’s ultimately what I went through in my life, which is difficulties,” Irving said. “And when you go through those difficulties, you gotta know how to handle them.”
He wants his children and other young people to know how to deal with those struggles.
“So now I’m just teaching the youth and myself, ultimately every day, my kids, how to deal with difficulties,” Irving said. “How to deal with those difficult circumstances and how to talk through it. Most of our kids don’t talk through their emotions. They don’t know how.”
Technology can make that even harder.
“They usually go to their phones or stuff like that,” Irving said. “So I’m trying to get them away from that and just drawing more genuine love that they feel from the people around them.”
Knowing When To Let Go
Irving is no stranger to finding himself in the news for things beyond basketball.
Some of those situations have brought criticism and difficult lessons.
Irving knows he is not perfect and says he has learned from his mistakes.
“I don’t think I could name a perfect person,” Irving said. “Can you name a perfect person?”
Everyone makes mistakes, including Irving.
“I don’t think anyone’s perfect out here, and we all make mistakes,” Irving said. “When you do make those mistakes, and when I have made those mistakes, I’ve had some tough, hard lessons come from those mistakes.”
Those experiences have helped Irving understand how he wants to navigate his life moving forward.
“I think because of that, it’s enabled me to be able to navigate life a lot easier because I have people to talk to about them,” Irving said. “I also know the difference between what’s private and what should be public and what should not be said in public and what should be said in private, in conversations where you can ask anything and you’re not judged.”
Irving has been in the public eye since he was a teenager.
“Growing up in the public eye since I was 17 years old, 18 years old, there’s nothing normal about my life at times,” Irving said. “Just the expectation that others have of me, sometimes the expectations I have of myself, and I think because of that, I can be putting too much pressure on myself.”
Sometimes those expectations can weigh him down.
“If anybody is human, they put too much pressure on themselves, and when you put too much pressure, you feel constricted and you feel a lot of tensity, intensity and stuff like that,” Irving said.
Irving says he is learning how to relieve some of that pressure.
“I try to live a stress-free life, pray every day, meditate every day, balance myself, make sure I’m breathing,” Irving said. “Breathing through my emotions and just not taking for granted the little things that God has blessed us with.”
That process has also changed the way Irving views himself and others.
“So simple ingredients, simplifying life has allowed my love to grow for others, allowed my love to grow, most importantly, for myself, ‘cause self-love’s the best love, self-respect is the best respect,” Irving said. “People start treating you different once you start treating yourself different and creating those healthy boundaries with every and any relationship.”
He believes he is entering Dallas as a different person than the one who first entered the NBA.
“Though my journey has not been perfect, and though I’ve been through some crazy situations based on things I’ve done or things that I’ve said, I believe those situations are avoidable now because I’m in a balanced place emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically,” Irving said.
“It all is something that I’ve been able to learn, and I’m grateful for that.”
Irving is less than a week into his career with the Mavericks.
He already knows who he wants to be while playing for them.
