Kevin Love has been to battle with Kyrie Irving many times in the past during their time together with the Cavs. Love knows his buddy well, and at this point, he is confident that Kyrie will be able to get the job done for the Brooklyn Nets despite the bigger-than-basketball controversy he's currently in the middle of.
According to Love, he is confident that Irving has the ability to shut off all the noise when necessary:
“I think Kyrie does understand what it means to lock-in in a long playoff run,” Love told the Tiki and Tierney show on Wednesday, via Tom Hansin of Audacy.com. “He was so unbelievable in those runs that we had. He's been great this year, despite what people may think or what we're talking about here. And I'm happy that he's been able to find peace, and look inward, and settle in with really who he is and what he's about. He's an advocate, a philanthropist, and an athlete — maybe in that order.”
Love did acknowledge that Irving's recent actions may have caused a bit of a problem not only for him but for the Nets as well. However, the five-time All-Star big man remains confident that Kyrie will be able to show up when it matters most:
“And behind the scenes, if you peel back the curtain, he's been able to make a huge impact in many people's lives, just outside of the realm of basketball,” Love added. “And on top of that, there's times where he may have said the wrong thing. Nobody's perfect. He may have been somewhat of a distraction. But we don't know really what's going on in that locker room… But when it's time to lock-in, Kyrie will be right there. And he had a great season…”
A lot will be riding for both the Nets and Kyrie in the coming playoffs, which starts with a matchup against Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics in the first round. Brooklyn is heavily considered as the favorites to win the title this season, so anything less than that could spell disaster for Kyrie and his superteam.
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