Interesting Kyrie Irving Article

[NM Duke Fan]

"He didn't have facial hair, had a big head—he just looked like a squirrel," teammate Christopher Gibson says. "We called him Squirrel Boy."

The team circled around Plummer as he introduced the new player.

"This is Kyrie. He scored over 1,000 points at Montclair Kimberley Academy in two seasons. Let's welcome him."

Most of his new teammates shrugged. St. Patrick was a top basketball school, and that year's team included the No. 1 rising sophomore in the country, future Charlotte Hornet Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and five more future Division I players. Others were indignant.

"Who are you?" Gibson asks. "Like, how are you supposed to be good, and we never even heard your name before?"

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2710100-how-kyrie-irving-learned-to-love-being-himself?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

[atoomer0881]

"He didn't have facial hair, had a big head—he just looked like a squirrel," teammate Christopher Gibson says. "We called him Squirrel Boy."

The team circled around Plummer as he introduced the new player.

"This is Kyrie. He scored over 1,000 points at Montclair Kimberley Academy in two seasons. Let's welcome him."

Most of his new teammates shrugged. St. Patrick was a top basketball school, and that year's team included the No. 1 rising sophomore in the country, future Charlotte Hornet Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and five more future Division I players. Others were indignant.

"Who are you?" Gibson asks. "Like, how are you supposed to be good, and we never even heard your name before?"

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2710100-how-kyrie-irving-learned-to-love-being-himself?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

What a great article. Thanks for sharing! To this day, I always wonder what our 2010-11 season would have been had he not gotten injured.

[jv001]

"He didn't have facial hair, had a big head—he just looked like a squirrel," teammate Christopher Gibson says. "We called him Squirrel Boy."

The team circled around Plummer as he introduced the new player.

"This is Kyrie. He scored over 1,000 points at Montclair Kimberley Academy in two seasons. Let's welcome him."

Most of his new teammates shrugged. St. Patrick was a top basketball school, and that year's team included the No. 1 rising sophomore in the country, future Charlotte Hornet Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and five more future Division I players. Others were indignant.

"Who are you?" Gibson asks. "Like, how are you supposed to be good, and we never even heard your name before?"

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2710100-how-kyrie-irving-learned-to-love-being-himself?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

Thanks for the link. What a great story. Kyrie will always be one of my favorite Duke players, even though he only played 11 games. I loved what Coach K told Kyrie, that he would be one of the best of his generation. I've only seen one Duke player dribble the basketball in traffic like Kyrie and that was Bobby Hurley. However I think Kyrie may have been a little better at it. Coach K has an eye for special players and for that, I'm thankful. Just thinking of what might have been makes me a little sad. GoDuke!

[sagegrouse]

Here is his first moment on a hoops court at St. Patrick's as a 15 year-old:


The players changed into school-issued gray short shorts and green T-shirts and threw on sneakers, then picked two teams. During the pickup game, Irving was shy initially and deferred when the ball came to him. Soon he was pinned in on the baseline. He threw the ball through his defender's legs, ran after it, then pulled the ball back to create space and shoot.

"It was amazing," Gibson says. Later, down the court, Irving did something similar, turning his man inside out. "He was doing stuff we'd never seen before."

When the game was over, the players shook their heads.

"He was ahead of everyone mentally," teammate Kevin Seabrook says. "He created a separation right there."