About two months ago, Kyrie Irving threw a bad pass intended for rookie teammate Tyler Zeller. After watching it sail out of bounds, the NBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year angrily slapped a padded wall… and broke his right hand. Tough break for a remarkable young man who had been busy turning heads as a member of the USA Select Team, but nothing that would keep him from getting better.
How, you ask, does a basketball player get better without the use of his right hand? Well, if he’s Kyrie Irving, he simply spends more time working with his other hand. Via Yahoo…
Irving improved his left-hand dribbling skills while he was sidelined, but he couldn’t do much with his right hand.
“I couldn’t tie my shoes,” Irving said. “I couldn’t put my belt on. There were a few things I couldn’t do. I couldn’t cook, open up juice. I had my best friend and my father with me all the time.”
The excerpt above is but a minor detail from Marc J. Spears’ latest story about Irving, who recently returned to five-on-five play, but it really stood out to me for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, Kyrie Irving is a baller. Ballers find ways to improve, even when one of their hands is broken.
Secondly, the thought of Kyrie Irving with an improved left hand… that’s comparable the thought of LeBron James with five more inches on his vertical. I mean, Irving had already established himself as one of the league’s elite ball handlers… and now he’s back having done nothing but work on his off hand for two months?
From a defender’s perspective, this has got to be utterly terrifying.
See you in a couple weeks, Kyrie. I can’t wait!
