Kyrie Irving is one of the most competitive players in the League, despite how some may feel about what he does off the court. Irving is known as one of the greatest and most complete 1-on-1 players in the history of the NBA.
Former Cleveland teammate Jordan McRae recalled the story of when he, Irving, and Iman Shumpert would play 1s after every practice and even sometimes before games.
At one point, they were playing ones four hours before games and every day after practices. In response to these long-winded battles, McRae said that the Cleveland front office had to tell them to stop playing.
“Me, (Kyrie), and Shump played 1s after practice every single day. People in the front office came to us like, ‘Y’all just stay away from Ky. You know if Ky see y’all, he gon’ play.”
The constant games of individual battles testify to their love of basketball and are a creative way of entertainment and fun amongst teammates. We can only imagine how many wins Irving took during those epic battles. But it was a way of forming a bond with his teammates and a fun way for iron to sharpen iron.
