The media and a large majority of the Dallas Mavericks' fanbase had every reason to be skeptical of Kyrie Irving when he was traded to Dallas in the middle of the 2022-23 season. Irving was coming off a tumultuous tenure with the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets after forcing his way out of Cleveland, and the national narrative was that he would never fit alongside Mavericks' superstar point guard Luka Doncic.
But as soon as Irving set foot in North Texas, he looked like a different person. His doubters claimed that the peaceful aura he gave off would eventually run its course, but it never did.
“Just to have a guy like that on your team, it’s a pleasure,” Doncic said after the Mavericks disposed of the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. “Just working with him, just playing with him, it’s a pleasure, no matter what.
“He’s always positive energy. Always. Not even one second of negative energy, which helps a lot, helps everybody. We’re so happy to have him.”
Irving, who has taken ownership of his mistakes at his previous stops since becoming a Maverick, did so again during his visit with the media on Monday, sharing his perspective on how much he's grown since he left Boston.
"I know sometimes in sports, it's literally about the end goal and result and what you accomplish, and that's one thing," Irving said. "But we're still human at the end of the day. I wasn't my best self during that time. When I look back on it, I just see it as a time where I learned how to let go of things and learned how to talk through my emotions.
"It was just a chapter in my life that I got to enjoy for the most part. We had a great opportunity to do some special things, but it was cut short, just based off personal reasons on my end. One thing I look back on my time in Boston -- I've said this over the past few years, but somehow it gets tossed under the rug -- but the greatest thing I learned from Boston was just being able to manage not only my emotions or just what's going on on a day-to-day basis of being a leader of a team or being one of the leaders, and having young guys around you that have their own goals, but you have to learn how to put the big picture first."
Irving also expressed regret about his interactions with Celtics' fans at TD Garden during the 2021 NBA Playoffs while playing for the Nets, a game that included him flipping off the fans and scuffing his shoe on Lucky the Leprechaun's face.
"But I will say last time in Boston, I don't think that was the best -- not this regular season, but when we played in the playoffs and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s--- a little bit -- that wasn't a great reflection of who I am and how I like to compete on a high level. It wasn't a great reflection on my end towards the next generation on what it means to control your emotions in that type of environment, no matter what people are yelling at you.
"I'm built for these moments, to be able to handle circumstances like that, and I've been able to grow since then. So of course it's going to be a hectic environment, but I'm looking forward to it and I see it as a healthy relationship that I have with the fans. I almost think about 'Gladiator,' just winning the crowd over. It is good to hear the TD Garden silent when you're playing well. They still respect great basketball."
Shan, RJ and Bobby discussed Irving's eloquent response on Tuesday's show.
"I just cannot believe what a totally, different person he is. I cannot believe the transformation (he's undergone)," Shariff said on 105.3 The Fan. "I love the guy listening to him. It was just an impossible thought when he got dealt here. I was waiting for all of this to fall apart. He's so at peace."