Kyrie Irving is an incredibly gifted player, no one has ever disputed that.
One of his peers thinks Irving is so talented that Brooklyn Nets games that include him should be more expensive than they are.
Irving has had a tumultuous season. Because of his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine, he is unable to play at home but is allowed to dress on the road. The Nets are a different team when he’s available, as evidenced by the 150-108 drubbing they handed the Orlando Magic on Tuesday in which Irving dropped 60 points.
That prompted CJ McCollum to carve out a few minutes on his podcast “Pull Up With CJ McCollum” by marveling at just how talented Irving is.
“Some people are saying he’s sitting out games, right, so he’s fresh. And that’s true, he is sitting out games so he is fresh," the New Orleans Pelicans star said. "He’s only traveling, he’s not playing games at home. But from a basketball rhythm standpoint, it is hard to take time off like that. Let’s say your team has a three-game homestand and you can’t play in games, and then you go on a roadtrip and you have to play in a game, your basketball timing and basketball rhythm is a little different when you’re only practicing and working out versus playing in the games.
“So the fact that he’s doing this, I think Jay (Williams) talked about it, it’s supreme skill, supreme focus, supreme confidence, all those things. But his skillset and ability to adapt on the fly and his creativity is unlike anything we’ll ever see. He’s like Picasso, there’s a lot of great paintings out there that you may like and that you may buy, but the price point on those paintings is different. And the price point for admission to a Brooklyn Nets game to see him play is different, it should be more expensive because it’s unlike anything that you will ever see because of his skillset.
“His skillset is special. There’s a lot of good guards … but his s–t is different.”
The Nets have been a mess this season, and appear ticketed to the play-in round of the postseason. Given how much talent is on that team, that alone is a dead giveaway of how much they have underachieved.
The availability or not of their Picasso could play a big role in how far they go this spring.
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