YouTube Gold: Kyrie Goes Off Against Dallas

Former Blue Devil Kyrie Irving is one of the most brilliant players in the NBA and has been since he arrived. At times though, he’s been hard to figure out. He wanted out of Cleveland and got traded to Boston. He got tired of Boston and then landed in Brooklyn. He has adopted multiple identities, wondered if the earth is flat and caused something of an uproar last season when he refused to get the Covid vaccine, which greatly limited his availability.

He played as a part-timer for too much of last season and at times it seemed like he and the Nets were tired of each other. There were rumors that he and the Lakers were sizing each other up, which would mean a reunion with LeBron James, someone he left Cleveland to get away from - or at least his long shadow.

At times the Kyrie sideshow (like this, unfortunately) overshadows the show he can put on on the court. But periodically, he reminds us of just what a brilliant talent he is. And that’s exactly what he did Thursday night against Dallas.

The Nets are still not over last season’s disaster - they are just 1-4 - and only Kevin Durant can really help Irving - but Kyrie’s brilliance is unabated.

The game against Dallas went into overtime and Luka Doncic also had a great game, scoring 41 points and passing out 14 assists.

But Irving had a great game too. He scored 39, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out four dimes.

The Nets never became a super team last year and it’s not at all clear that Irving plans to be back next year. Whatever happens though, it’s nice to see him back to his normal level of brilliance.