Kyrie Irving is his best self in the NBA playoffs, says Cavs GM

Kyrie Irving is big time.

He reduces defenders to ash with his supreme handle before getting to the rim where he’s one of the league’s best finishers. He shoots 40.5 percent from three, stabilizing a Cleveland Cavaliers team built on pelting teams from distance.

And he’s hit big shot after big shot to help lead Cleveland to its anticipated third straight NBA Finals appearance, which includes a championship ring after his ice-cold shot in last year’s deciding game.

Plain and simple, Irving is big time, and Cavs general manager David Griffin knows. He confirmed as much in an interview with Fear the Sword, where he spoke about his All-Star point guard’s development from a one-and-done at Duke to linchpin of Cleveland’s championship aspirations.

After all, Irving only played 11 college games before a right toe injury cut his season short. He was never on the court at Duke to deliver the big shots NBA fans have grown accustomed to seeing. That development took place in his early years in the league.

Now, Griffin says, Irving comes alive in the playoffs, but it took some transitioning from a me-first approach to a team-first approach, including the idea to speed up the game even though he can get a shot whenever he wants.

“He doesn’t like to push the ball, it’s just not his nature. He’s gotten by in the halfcourt his whole life because his handle is so good, he never felt the urgency to press the ball, whereas most guys develop their game as to what they need to do to succeed. Ky never had to do that. So when you’re explaining to him why it’s important to push the pace and I think he was reluctant to do that, because, well, ‘because I can get mine regardless’. Well, it’s not necessarily about you. So I think where he’s grown and evolved is he’s starting to figure that out. There’s days where he’s as good as any player in the league at his position. And there’s days where he’s the 198th-some best player adjusted plus/minus player. And there’s days where the defensive quintile that [our analytics department] has him in looks real. There’s days where, when he’s highly motivated to do it, you realize he’s special. His hands are lightning quick, his feet are lightning quick. When he wants to, he can do whatever he wants. Fortunately for us, we’re found that in the playoffs we tend to get the best of him.”

You can read the rest of Fear the Sword’s exclusive interview with David Griffin here.