Respect is earned in the NBA. With Boston Celtics star point guard Kyrie Irving, he has already done plenty to have earned that respect from one of the NBA's greatest head coaches of all-time in the San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich.

According to a tweet from Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio News-Express, Popovich continues to be one of Irving's biggest fans and gave him a good deal of praise before Friday night's contest between the Spurs and Celtics.

“He’s tremendously hard to guard, one of the best players in the league. Gets to the rim, shoots threes,” Popovich said of Irving. “He does everything, passes the ball. He’s a fantastic player, one of the best in the league.”

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Heading into tonight's intriguing contest in San Antonio at AT&T Center, Irving continues to absolutely play out of his mind. Over the last 10 games, Irving has put up some MVP-worthy numbers en route to an 8-2 Boston record during that span.

Popovich has every reason to give Irving praise, as the 25-year-old star has only shot below 50 percent once over his last 10 games. Irving is overall shooting 106-for-184 (57.6 percent) from the field and 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from behind the arc. During that span, Irving is also averaging a whopping 28.3 points, 4.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per contest.