Kyrie Irving may be a polarizing and enigmatic figure, but he is also a wizard with the basketball.
His former teammate LeBron James agreed with a social media post that claimed he is the best player ever with the ball in his hands.
It is a very lofty claim to make when the NBA has seen the likes of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and James himself work miracles with the ball in their hands.
Most do agree, however, that Irving is the greatest ball-hander of all time. His ability to split double teams off the dribble and snake his way to the basket against different types of defensive coverage is something special.
Irving first emerged as a star with the Cleveland Cavaliers prior to James’ return there in 2014. When they won their first NBA championship in 2016, Irving seemingly hit a higher level.
Since leaving Cleveland in 2017, he has played for three different teams and has gained a reputation as something of a toxic influence. However, his numbers have been outstanding. He put up 27.1 points a game on 49.4 percent field-goal shooting and 37.9 percent from 3-point range last season for the Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks.
James’ Los Angeles Lakers have made more than one attempt to trade for Irving over the past year and reunite the two. Even though Irving signed a three-year contract this summer to remain in Dallas, the speculation continues that James still wants to play with him again.
Brian Windhorst recently reported that James still has an interest in teaming up with the eight-time All-Star. But making that a reality seems virtually impossible given the huge investment the Mavs have made in Irving, plus the fact that the Lakers reportedly had no interest in going after Irving this summer.
Still, the New Jersey native was reportedly planning to meet with the Purple and Gold when free agency began a few weeks ago.
