The 32-year-old Irving is a “magician” and blessed with “the best talent I've ever seen in an NBA player,” Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said this week. Indeed, the eight-time All-Star guard can dribble at full speed behind his back, spin around with his left hand for a layup and tap-dance through swarms of defenders with a skilled rhythm that few players possess. Those skills, and his checkered past, were on full display again in the NBA's first Finals appearance since 2017.
If Irving plays as well as he did in the Western Conference finals alongside Luka Doncic, the Mavericks have a great chance to beat the championship-favorite Celtics. Such a win seemed unlikely after Irving missed most of the 2021-22 season for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine and was suspended in 2022 for promoting an anti-Semitic film.
But if Boston's talented and experienced perimeter defenders can find a way to contain Irving, Dallas' surprising postseason run would likely come to an abrupt end.
“I [make the Finals] “Year four, year five, year six, I'm very proud of the success I had,” Irving said Wednesday. “When I look back on those memories, I don't regret how I handled that success, but I am a little disappointed in how I approached it. … At that age, I was able to go through what I went through and move on from it.” [the Finals] We see this as an opportunity that we don’t want to take for granted.”
There's no “short cut” of Irving's meltdown. It began shortly after he hit the three-pointer that helped the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 Finals. In 2017, his final season with James with the Cavaliers, Irving caused a major stir by expressing his belief that the Earth is flat. After receiving rebukes from educators and backlash from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, he eventually apologized but only mentioned the idea in subsequent interviews.
A fierce debate ensued about whether he was a bad influence or a harmless troll. Either way, Irving seemed to be trying to escape James' shadow and cultivate an unconventional personal brand. After the Cavaliers lost to the Warriors in the 2017 Finals, Irving asked for a trade, joining the Boston Celtics, then a rising star in the Eastern Conference. By that point, stars were flocking to play with James, but Irving was no longer willing to accept a second-string role.
“When I was a little younger, there were some things that got in the way of our relationship,” Irving said of James. “Now, I feel like our relationship is different because as a man, I'm able to speak up about how I feel and I'm comfortable with that and I'm able to stand up for myself, what I believe, where I come from. I miss him so much.”
Irving's exit strategy didn't go as planned. He injured his left knee during the 2017-18 season, and the Celtics lost without him to James' Cavaliers in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals. Irving's return the following year coincided with a noticeable setback for a shaky Celtics team that lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round. Irving's inability to maintain good chemistry with young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown was central to the Celtics' struggles, and he overcompensated in the playoffs by trying to score at every opportunity and by trying to protect Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was a hopeless player given his size.
Irving left Cleveland to prove he could lead a championship-contending team, but two disappointing seasons in Boston made it clear he wasn't up to the task. The divorce was best for both parties, but Irving angered Celtics fans by teaming up with Kevin Durant on the Brooklyn Nets in 2019, a departure from his previous statements that he planned to re-sign with Boston and wanted to wear his uniform next to Bill Russell and Larry Bird. To many in Boston, Irving was a disappointing liar, and the TD Garden crowd gleefully booed him every time the Nets visited. On one trip home, Irving burned sage near the court to “cleanse the energy” of his former home.
The Celtics quickly realized they were better off without Irving as they tried to win their first championship since 2008. While Irving was injured again in 2019-20 and tried to sabotage the NBA's plans to restart the season during the pandemic in the Disney World bubble, Boston saw Tatum and Brown develop into one of the league's best wing duos and reach the conference finals in 2020.
The 2020-21 season was Irving's best in Brooklyn, as he helped the Nets beat the Celtics in the first round. During that series, Irving said he hoped there would be no “fighting, no racism, no subtle racism, no taunting from the crowd.”
The Celtics quickly got revenge, sweeping the Nets in the first round of the 2022 playoffs, a series that saw a frustrated Irving give the Boston fans the finger during a Game 1 loss. Brooklyn couldn't recover from a tumultuous season, with an unvaccinated Irving playing just 29 games because he missed home games at Barclays Center due to New York City's vaccination mandate.
With Brooklyn unwilling to offer Irving a significant contract extension and unable to meet his latest trade request in the summer of 2022, Irving had no choice but to return to the Nets. It didn't take long for the fire to erupt: Nets coach Steve Nash was fired just seven games into the 2022-23 season, and Durant and Irving were released before the mid-season trade deadline.
Irving's final season in Brooklyn was his ugliest, as he was suspended eight games by the Nets for sharing a link to an anti-Semitic film on social media. Attempts to broker a settlement with Jewish groups ran into numerous obstacles, as Irving initially refused to disavow the film's contents and then became defensive during an aggressive press conference.
That challenge, combined with Irving's inconsistent play, injury concerns and desire for a long-term deal, reduced his trade value. Desperately in need of a companion for Doncic, Dallas acquired Irving on the cheap for a modest package of rotation players and draft picks in February 2023.
The Doncic-Irving combo wasn't an immediate hit, and the Mavericks fell out of the running for a playoff spot in 2023 because the two guards needed time to acclimate.
Doncic has at times learned to play faster, Irving has settled into a role closer to his old one as James's sidekick, and the Mavericks have fully recovered in recent months, buoyed by the additions of rookie center Derek Lively II and mid-season acquisitions P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. After years of sabotage, Irving has kept a low profile.
In playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, Irving flashed his lethal scoring ability and newfound vigor on defense. Doncic was the driving force in Dallas, but Irving succeeded in many areas where he failed in Boston and Brooklyn. The Mavericks are suddenly dreaming of helping Dirk Nowitzki win his first title since 2011.
Doncic and Irving “put in the work,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after the Western Conference finals. “It didn't happen overnight. It's great.”
The Mavericks are hoping Irving has the best series of his life against the Celtics, a team he has faced 10 times since his time with the Nets, all of which he lost to. Boston has the best record and point differential in the NBA this season, and has dominated both of their head-to-head meetings with Dallas.
Boston will likely prefer to guard Doncic and Irving without double teams and limit Dallas' lobs to the basket and secondary 3-point shooters, while Boston's spacing-out attack will force Doncic and Irving to take turns matching up the Celtics' physical wings and rotating to cover the Celtics' many perimeter shooting threats.
Irving also has to deal with rabid Celtics fans who haven't forgotten about his playoff failure, his departure from the team in 2019, his court logo stomping in 2021 and his middle finger in 2022. If Irving can quiet the noise, he could win his second championship, his first without James and his first since his career went off the rails.
“of course [Boston] “It's going to be a busy environment,” Irving said. “I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be a healthy relationship with the fans. Think 'Gladiators,' just engaging the crowd. … I'm going to have to lead a group that is looking to me to be a voice of peace.”
