Kyrie’s humble act doesn’t fool us; bring C’s villain into the finale

Kyrie’s humble act doesn’t fool us; Bring on C’s villain in Finals originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

I don’t know what Kyrie Irving is playing with, but I don’t like it. Not even a little.

If you’ve been watching the Mavericks this season, you’ve noticed a different Irving. He defers to superstar teammate Luka Doncic, he likes to facilitate, and when the time comes to take over, his bag remains as bottomless as Hermione Granger’s. He is a force.

What he has not been is a wise-burning, gibberish-spouting, vaccine-denying distraction. He was furious about his Best Supporting Actor nominations alongside LeBron James, he blasted his way out of Boston after serving as a cranky anti-mentor to young stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and he made such a hash of the Nets that they take him to the Mavericks for pennies. Less than a year ago it was radioactive.

But take a look at Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, when Irving targeted brash young Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards for 30 points in Dallas’ victory, and there was not a trace of drama in sight. In fact, Irving sounded downright graceful after the game with the TNT crew, coming across as humble, selfless, and dare I say…normal?

“I feel good there as a point guard, especially with Luka. If we can go together, he goes, I go,” Irving said. “It’s not your turn, it’s my turn. I’m just looking for the next opportunity to play for my teammates.”

Irving conducted the interview with an aww-shucks smile and a doe-eyed, reverent attitude as he looked down at his shoes. This is not enough and we will not stand for it.

When the Celtics and Mavericks clash in the NBA Finals, Irving will take center stage against the team he not only dismissed, but nearly destroyed, and we see through this Mr. Congeniality routine. The real Kyrie is still out there, and we’ll let him show himself.

Irving is an all-time Boston sports villain, alongside Alex Rodriguez, Roger Goodell and Ulf Samuelsson, and it would be smart of him to kill us with so much kindness that we stumble like an overcommitted defender. But stay square and don’t reach, young blood, because we know better.

There’s a reason why Hollywood decided that the charismatic, chameleonic Irving could be a movie star, and that’s because Uncle Drew can act a little. We witnessed it firsthand after he arrived in 2017. He fooled us for a while with his whole “if you want me” routine and the slick commercial about hanging his number in the garden rafters. I won’t lie. I bought it all.

But the fairy tale quickly became a slasher film. Irving took veiled shots at Boston’s young stars and their inability to understand what it took to win a title, conveniently abdicating his responsibility to lead them. While injured, he skipped Game 7 of the conference finals against LeBron’s Cavs to get a nose job or something, which didn’t really feel like he was first as a team.

By the time he was caught conspiring and/or colluding with Kevin Durant during the 2019 All-Star Game, we knew how this story would end. Irving’s last appearance in a Celtics uniform was a layoff in the conference semifinals against the Bucks. It’s hard to play defense when you have one foot out the door.

So he set out to form his ill-fated superteam in Brooklyn. As a result, the Celtics nearly imploded. They replaced Irving with Kemba Walker, a truly selfless superstar who was nonetheless collapsing. In 2021, the C’s were a .500 team in need of major changes. Danny Ainge resigned, Brad Stevens moved on, and the entire operation hung in the balance. Splitting the Jays felt as likely as winning a title with them, and Irving caused the whole avalanche.

That’s the unforgivable part. He actively left the organization in a much worse state than he found it.

So Celtics fans understandably despise him and gleefully rode him every chance they got in the first round of the 2022 playoffs. The Celtics won Game 1 at the buzzer despite an excellent effort from Irving, and then he slowly faded away afterward, consumed with turning off the fans instead of silencing them. Since A-Rod had a rival athlete, it hasn’t become clearer that Boston was on his mind.

However, today’s Irving is effectively unrecognizable, and that should make us all a little queasy. A focused Irving is unstoppable, and Dallas made some smart changes at the trade deadline to improve defense and cohesion (see you later, Grant Williams). The redesigned Mavs are a legitimate threat to Boston’s title hopes.

And wouldn’t that be just like Irving? Dismissing the Celtics was bad enough, but that’s old news. Defeating them would be the worst possible outcome, so don’t be fooled by this humble act. Kyrie remains the biggest villain in Boston, villains inevitably reveal their true nature and villains must be vanquished.