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When LeBron James announced over the summer he was returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was met with much jubilation, followed by curiosity. Fans and media pundits alike began to wonder what life would be like in Cleveland as the NBA’s best player, coming off his fourth straight Finals appearance, joined a roster full of kids who haven’t seen what a playoff game looked like beyond watching from home.
One of the biggest questions was whether or not guard Kyrie Irving, easily the Cavaliers’ best player during the post-LeBron years, would be able to adjust to no longer being the alpha dog. Multiple times in Irving’s three seasons before James’ return, the young point guard would spend many of Cleveland’s games playing a whole lot of hero ball. Of course, due to the alarming lack of talent around him, you couldn’t really blame him.
Now, many around the league expected him to cede a good chunk of offensive control to both James and forward Kevin Love, something which was widely a considered as a possible issue. In fact, James’ former Miami Heat teammate/punching bag Mario Chalmers even expressed concern about the culture shock Irving was about to go through.
As we near the end of the first quarter of this NBA season, one thing is clear: any worries regarding Irving struggling this season have essentially vanished. As a matter of fact, in quite a surprising twist, Irving is easily Cleveland’s MVP at the moment.
Of course, it didn’t exactly start this way. In the first few games of the season, it certainly looked as though nothing about Irving’s game changed at all. Despite being tasked as the team’s main distributor, Irving was still guilty of dribbling out the shot clock, playing isolation against his defender while also bringing the entire team to a halt. What was supposed to be a fast-moving, high-scoring offense ended up looking like a mirror image of the past three years in Cleveland.
This was highlighted by his much-maligned performance in a loss to the Utah Jazz, during which he netted 34 points with zero assists. From there, more than a few people started glancing at the panic button, and many began to wonder if there might have been a bit of an issue between Irving and James.
However, since said controversial performance, Irving has been nearly unstoppable. Those nights of dribbling around while forcing everyone else to just stand and watch have been all but eliminated. When asked to run the offense, Irving has been creating shots for teammates, while also giving opponents fits with his scoring ability. On top of this, when James is facilitating, Irving’s scoring opportunities see an increase he’s likely nowhere close to being used to and, more often than not, he’s cashing in on them.
This was on display for everyone to see last night on a nationally televised game between the Cavs and the New York Knicks. In what was at times a contest so ugly it was hard to watch, Irving provided almost 100% of the highlights. He was able to find himself scoring chances playing away from the action, but he was an absolute nightmare for New York when he had the ball in his hand. There didn’t seem to be any defender the Knicks could throw at him, Irving just continued to make every single one of them look foolish, finishing with a game-high 37 points.
At the end of the day, it’s no shock to see Irving put forth impressive offensive performances. He’s had more than a few since being drafted by the Cavs in 2011. What is surprising, though, is how he’s continuing to do it despite the common thought being that it would take him more than a few months to settle into his new role.
Wasn’t Irving supposed to go through a long adjustment period? Wasn’t learning all about life with LeBron supposed to be a bit of an issue? If you tell a player to shift from team superstar to talented sidekick, isn’t this going to result in some trouble at first?
Right now, it certainly appears as though the answer to every single one of these questions is “no.” While some players are still having issues adjusting to new roles – *cough* Dion Waiters *cough* – Irving is falling in line almost flawlessly.
Last night also brought another example as to why Irving has been the Cavs best player to this point. James, who seems to be alternating between “world beater” and “sloppy mess” almost every other night, took the latter path against the Knicks. However, while many Cleveland players seemed to lull because of James’ struggles, Irving took over the game.
One of the most important things this young Cavs team needs to learn is how to win on nights when James can’t get his game going, and Irving appears prime and ready to do so himself.
Even more important, though, is how he’s been playing on the other side of the court. There weren’t a ton of scouts around the NBA who thought of Irving as one of the better defensive point guards. In fact, more often than not in the past few years, Irving was a defensive liability.
Suddenly, it appears this is no longer the case. While he still has some hiccups here and there, overall, Irving has vastly improved his defense. Tasked with guarding high-quality players like Tony Parker or, at least in their recent bout, John Wall, Irving has held them to inefficient nights. With how long he’s struggled at this aspect of the game, it’s stunning how quickly he’s become a better defender.
Defensive issues and postseason inexperience are essentially the two things standing in the way of Irving becoming one of, if not the best point guard in the league. Right now, it looks like the former is being addressed, while the latter surely will next spring. However, at just 22 years of age, there’s no denying Irving is only going to get better, something anyone outside of the Cavaliers locker room should be afraid of.
Upon his return, James became the king of Cleveland once again. At the moment, though, it’s Irving’s world, and James, like the rest of us, is just living in it.
Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook
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