Kyrie Irving finds comfort zone with Dallas Mavericks

Kyrie Irving’s NBA career was in a tailspin in February 2023 and it was time for him to leave the Brooklyn Nets in hopes of a fresh start. Among NBA teams, there was one place that offered an intriguing comfort zone: the Dallas Mavericks, with a pair of familiar faces, coach Jason Kidd and general manager Nico Harrison.

Now more than a year after the blockbuster trade, the cloud that hovered over the eight-time NBA All-Star upon his arrival in Dallas is gone, and the focus now is back on winning in the postseason and showcasing his basketball wizardry.

As Dallas begins its Western Conference semifinal series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, Kidd and Harrison couldn’t be happier about the resurgence of Irving’s stardom under their tutelage.

“They’ve been around the greatest of all time,” Irving, 32, told Andscape. “J-Kidd has coached some the greatest of all time. He played with some of the greatest of all-time. So, for me as a young player, that’s all I’ve ever wanted was that mentorship and guidance. I didn’t want to be lost out here to the lifestyle, to the distractions, to a lot of the unrealistic expectations and the pressures that you put on yourself. So, yeah, I’m thankful I have Nico and J-Kidd in my life …

“I’m a man now. So, I have kids, I have a wife. I have a relationship with God. I have relationships with people around me that are genuine and it’s not built on who I am as a player. So, I’m appreciative that I’ve been able to show that maturity and be able to live out my dream that I had when I was in fourth grade. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, was to be around some good people and be one of the greatest of all time.”

Kidd and Harrison’s ties to Irving date back to his high school days.

Harrison first watched Irving shine in AAU action while playing in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. In August 2009, Irving was a rising high school senior when he led the USA East to the tournament title in the Nike Global Challenge. The St. Patrick School (New Jersey) star was named the MVP after averaging 21.3 points and 4.3 assists. The 2010 Parade First-Team All-American also played in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Classic, which got him more familiar with Nike executives.

“The EYBL and our scouts were like, ‘Hey, you got to watch this Kyrie kid. He’s amazing,’ ” said Harrison, who was working for Nike in 2010. “When I go to watch those things, I’m only going to watch the top guys. So, we went and watched him play and he didn’t disappoint. So, from then, we’ve known who he is. Our whole team had a good relationship with him.”

“I was with Jordan and Nike when I was 16, 17. So those guys pretty much put a protective shell around me and I’ve basically ascended from there,” Irving said.

On June 28, 2021, the Mavericks hired Kidd and Harrison.

Kidd, who had coached the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets, was returning to Dallas, where he won an NBA championship as a starting point guard in 2011. As for Harrison, his appointment to general manager was a bigger surprise. He left shoe giant Nike as its vice president of North America basketball operations after nearly two decades. The former Montana State star forward worked closely with many of Nike’s top basketball stars, including former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant.

In 2012, Irving was named to the USA Basketball men’s select team, an elite practice squad of young NBA players who USA Basketball’s senior national team prepared against during training camp for the London Summer Olympics. Bryant was a member of the gold-medal winning team in 2012. Irving bonded with Bryant after challenging him to a one-on-one competition after practice that went viral. Bryant eventually learned to respect Irving after realizing he had a similar work ethic and will to be great.

Before the former Los Angeles Lakers star was killed on Jan. 26, 2020, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, there weren’t many people as close to Bryant as Harrison. Bryant’s big brother-little brother relationship with Irving was known to Harrison.

“They had a really good relationship,” Harrison said. “It started off with a lot of playful banter that you see they play on now on videos on Instagram where Kyrie challenged him. But, also, Kyrie spent a lot of time picking his brain. Kyrie is one of those people that wants to be the best. So, he’d pick his brain.

“And then Kobe had a lot of respect for him, so their relationship developed into a real relationship. I started off maybe mentor-mentee and then developed into a real bond.”

Kidd, a 10-time All-Star who is second in league history in assists, is regarded as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. Irving said that as a youth he followed Kidd’s career and has long been a fan of Kidd and his basketball IQ. Kidd said he became familiar with Irving when he was playing on the Nike prep circuit.

In 2019, Kidd and Irving bonded over a dinner in Boston when Irving was playing for the Boston Celtics. Irving began calling Kidd “Big Bro” after that meeting and they learned that they had shared the same strength and conditioning coach, and a birthday (March 23).

“I always heard stories about him from my conditioning coach and he would just tell me similarities and also some of the differences that we had, and if I ever got a chance to play for him that would be kind of the first person I wanted to go all out for,” Irving said. “We had some communication behind the scenes. But it was very sparse and it was just big brother-little brother type of thing.”

“He does call me Big Bro. It’s just respect. I think there’s a lot of parallels between us,” Kidd said.

Irving signed with his hometown Nets in 2019 with championship aspirations alongside fellow NBA star guard Kevin Durant and, eventually, James Harden. Irving missed nearly the entire Nets home schedule during the 2020-21 season after refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Irving also was suspended for eight games during the 2022-23 season after he posted a link on social media to a documentary with antisemitic material. He subsequently lost his shoe deal with Nike.

Irving played in 143 games in three-plus seasons with the Nets, including a mere 74 with Durant. After asking for a trade, Irving was dealt on Feb. 5, 2023 to the Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and future draft picks. Looking back, Irving says he wish he had been schooled on the business of the NBA after being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 1 overall pick in 2011 out of Duke.

“There was no professional class for me when I was being the No. 1 draft pick in the NBA,” Irving said. “And I think the etiquette of being a professional athlete in any part of the world, it should be taught in a class. When I came into the league, I wasn’t trying to get to know my GM on a personal level and his journey, and I don’t think he was trying to get to know me on a personal level. And it’s not his fault.

“It was Chris Grant and then it was David Griffin [in Cleveland]. And then I went over to Boston and we had multiple owners and GM and Danny Ainge, a championship winner. And then going to Brooklyn with Sean Marks. So, you see guys in executive in positions, but I think now where I’m at in my life I know that I care more about the human perspective than I do just signing big contracts.”

Even with the turmoil surrounding Irving upon his arrival in Dallas, Kidd and Harrison were eager to add him to All-Star forward Luka Dončić. Harrison believed that one reason Irving and Dončić could have success together is that Irving won an NBA championship with another elite forward in Cleveland: LeBron James. Kidd and Harrison loved and understood Irving as a person and believed they could get the best out of him on and off the court.

“We were trying to figure out how to get another star alongside Luka, and we didn’t think that we could get the team to the level it needed to be with just having good players,” Harrison said. “We needed a real legit star. When everything was happening, and it looked like there was a possibility of getting [Irving] — and obviously we’re doing our homework on everybody — we got a list of a bunch of players, but players that good aren’t available for a reason. So, when he actually became available, we jumped on it.

“I knew [Irving]. When you genuinely know somebody — you know their heart, you know their character, their work ethic — that gives you confidence to do something like that.”

“I was all for it. Just understanding his skill set and who he is, I thought he could help and he’s done that,” Kidd said.

Irving averaged 26 points, 5.4 assists, 1.3 rebounds and 40.6% shooting from 3-point range in 78 regular-season games this season. This postseason, the 13-year NBA veteran is averaging 26.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, including 44.9% from 3. The talk about Irving now is centered on respect for his scoring prowess and dribbling pizazz alongside Doncic.

Irving says that Kidd knows his potential and how to get the best out of him even on challenging days. Kidd says he has pushed Irving this season to give him more when Dončić has been out and to shoot a high percentage. Kidd described Irving this season as “playing off the charts,” and added that he also is enjoying his intelligence.

“He’s as good as they come. He’s real,” Kidd said. “He has the ability to talk about multiple subjects, [it] doesn’t have to be just basketball, and that’s pretty cool. I think that he can relate to or get on the level of a lot of people who might want to talk about different things.”

Harrison said he is ecstatic that he made the trade for Irving on and off the court. Harrison added that a key to their working relationship is being “truthful and honest,” and there was never a doubt that he could coexist with Dončić.

“I’m thankful for the decision now, and I think everybody around the organization is, too,” Harrison said. “But it’s awesome just to get to see him be himself. And it’s funny when if you talk to any of our teammates, they’re going to be like, ‘yeah, it’s really weird that there was ever any negativity around Kyrie, I just don’t see it. He’s such a positive person. He’s always smiling and happy, and I don’t get it.’ ”

Irving said that African American representation is important to him and Dallas’ brass was a draw. The Mavericks may have the strongest African American presence in leadership among NBA teams right now with Harrison, Kidd, assistant general manager Michael Finley and Cynthia Marshall, the NBA’s first Black female CEO. Irving also has a Black female agent, his stepmother, Shetellia Riley Irving, who worked for Black Entertainment Television as vice president of ad sales.

Kidd added that Irving has told him that Black representation matters to inspire and show the next generation they can be in high-level positions.

“He is always thinking about others and not just for himself, but when he says that or sees that, I think he is truly talking about for others to pursue different paths and careers in this industry that don’t always have to be as a player,” Kidd said. “I think it’s remarkable that he recognizes that and he truly loves that.”

Irving signed a three-year, $126 million contract with the Mavericks as a free agent last summer. Irving’s comfort level and trust with Kidd and Harrison played a strong role in his decision to re-sign with Dallas.

“That is probably why I signed the contract that I did because it gives us flexibility as a team,” Irving said. “Also, I’m with people that I’m familiar with and they love the game as much as I do in a way that I can continue to grow as a man and as a player.”