Boston Celtics young budding star Jaylen Brown has just been teammates with five-time All-Star Kyrie Irving for one year. Even so, he already gushes over Irving's rare star quality of being a most willing mentor.
Bleacher Report's Howard Beck wrote a column about Irving, where he mentioned Brown's positive statements towards the Celtics star point guard.
The 6'7″ Brown wears a slightly larger shoe but says Irving has been just as generous with his basketball insights, sharing tips on footwork, ball-handling, shooting and how to operate in the screen-and-roll.
“A lot of times, people that have acquired so much status or so much respect or experience throughout the game, or throughout any walk of life, they don't want to share it,” Brown says. “Kyrie's the complete opposite. He's completely willing and open to sharing any information that he's learned along his way.”
Irving, who hit the biggest shot of the Cleveland Cavaliers' successful championship run in 2016, is not just a superstar by status, but also by the camaraderie that he shows with his teammates. The first thing that he did when he decided to re-sign with the Celtics next year was to invite his teammates and tell them about his plans, an act that would ultimately earn the trust of his teammates.
Gone are the days that Irving was still learning the game under the shadows of LeBron James. He told Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports that he takes it upon himself to motivate his teammates this season.
“I know it’s a long answer but I’ve been thinking about it as I’ve been watching these games,” said Irving, who sat out the final two preseason games. “So it’s my job to keep [teammates] engaged as much as possible, that way we have that consistent effort and we’re not coming out there looking like we don’t have the energy like we have in progress.”
After all, Irving requested a trade from the Cavs last year in hopes to fill in the main man role for a team. Now that the jury is out in terms of his leadership, Irving has more pressure on his shoulders to lead the Celtics to the championship stage again.
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