In Brooklyn’s 2019-20 season opener, Kyrie Irving scored 50 points, but the Nets were unable to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime. Fast forward to Tuesday night, the 2020-21 NBA season opener, and Irving was once again Brooklyn’s leading scorer, but the outcome was much different — the Nets’ offense was so efficient that he and Kevin Durant didn’t need to play a second of the fourth quarter and the team still finished with 125 points and the win.
“It’s been a long journey to get here and to be able to master this craft and to learn that it’s not just about ‘hero’ basketball. It’s about how great the team is,” Irving told reporters after the win. “I got caught up in that in my career a few times, just trying to play ‘hero’ basketball, where the team success is really going to dictate how great you are as an individual and how great you play a role.
“At this moment, I’m enjoying that, and I’m embracing it, not really doing too much talking. It’s just about the actions. Let’s go out there and throw the ball in the air, and see who’s the best of the best. I’m here to prove that every night with a great team alongside. It gives me confidence. We look forward to that challenge of just letting our game do the talking and let everybody else talk externally.”
Irving further elaborated on what he meant by “hero basketball,” and how his goals have changed since he entered the NBA.
“It’s just the right time, right situation, right environment,” he said. “As a young player, you think that scoring a bunch of points, doing a bunch of things, getting a bunch of accolades are great. I definitely was going after those things, and now, I really don’t care for any of those individual accolades or goals. It doesn’t bother me.
“I’m validated culturally, that’s all that matters. I don’t need all-NBA, I don’t need the MVP. I just want the championship with a great team that I can look back in history and say, ‘We did it our way, and we had fun doing it.’ I’m in Year 10. All I want to do is enjoy every single day playing basketball and coming in to work.”
Irving and the Nets get back to it on Christmas Day when they visit the point guard’s old team, the Boston Celtics.
https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=OoQg0LCPGL-1082187-7498&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json