Kyrie Irving's Nets debut reminded me of me - Tracy McGrady | The Jump

so Kyrie Irving doesn't have to win, this is not something you will necessarily hear Kyrie or the Nets talk about because Kyrie does want to win and Brooklyn does too, but in the end the absolute truth is that Kyrie already has a ring earned in his game seven shots that he was already associated with one of the greatest players of all time and left voluntarily before his team reached its fourth consecutive final that he spent the last two years playing in another team that was also full of talent, a team where, as his own Nike commercial noted, if he had won there, his name would have danced in the rafters with some of the biggest sports legends and Kyrie was out of there;

Vince Lombardi once said that winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. but that's not really true for everyone at every stage of his career and it's extremely clear, and watching Kyrie, he's been looking for something more complex. Whether he found it in Brooklyn, it's too early to tell, but here's what I do know. look for him against Minnesota last night was a lot of fun and even a little emotional: here's Kyrie on the court before the game as he took the mic for that usual star addressing the fans at the home opener. I appreciate you guys and I hope.

I hope you support us throughout the season, let's knit, it was a good moment that teammate Kyrie, coming out of the door, shot the ring scoring 12 of the Nets' first 19 points. I mean, after all the kids, a James Harden leg usage rate of 40% is "I'm not going to calculate it alone, this early basket sent three Timberwolves down like bowling pins along the baseline. I loved this give and take with Cara's Levert turned into an impossible spin and one look at this at halftime the crowd was going crazy every time you touched the The least exciting ball for Nets fans was a Brooklyn score. fell behind by as many as 18 in the first half, thanks in large part to Karl-Anthony Towns, who was lethal from distance all night.

Now none of this stopped Kyrie from shooting, though when he hit a three with just over a minute left. remaining just look in a second here Wiggins whoo Andrew Wiggins had other plans, you heard me correctly Wiggins kept rolling the basket during overtime kept scoring with zero opportunities, this ball needed to go in, it managed to go in To top off incredible nights, I mean the whole sequence is crazy and you can count on one hand the number of guys in today's NBA that could even get the ball closer to the basket after sliding like that, I honestly feel Kyrie, he was in and out. a mask this preseason because he keeps breaking bones in his face he should play with it full time he's clearly a ninja and he just needs to admit it of course the ball didn't actually go in the Nets didn't actually win the game and yeah that It is important.

Because Brooklyn is eager to get off to a strong start, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that's the most important thing with Kevin Durant out this season. The Nets are not in the hunt for the title. His goals are much more focused on integrating Kyrie and continuing to build the team's culture. We'll have to see how the ladder goes at Brooklands. The younger stars will stay motivated if Kyrie is eating up much of the offense, but kid Kyrie sure looked comfortable last night, even sharing after the game that it was one year since his grandfather's death. event that he said was a big part of his decision to change teams, change teams to be closer to his family in New Jersey and just approach life in a different way.

I hope that means we'll see even more of Kyrie being free. and happy and fun and all the things that make him a legitimate pleasure to watch when he's relieved enough to leave us last night, even without the win, that was more than enough, Tracy, was that good enough for you? It is a good signal? It was a bad sign last night for the Nationals and Kyrie knows this is a great sign and he

reminded

me of myself, a local kid living his dream. I grew up in our land. Oh, just outside of Orlando, and I used to pass by that sand often.

And one day I just hoped to have the opportunity to play there because I am from that area, just like Kyrie from Jersey, on the other side of the river, and he is playing at home living his dream and I see the feeling that it is great. He's comfortable, he's free, like you said, this was a great sign, just let the fans know, this is the type of entertainment that I'm going to bring to this city, to this arena every night, you know, I know he wants to win the game. Damn 50 points in the first home game because you get nervous and you don't know, you know if you could control your emotions on an opening night like that.

I really enjoyed this game. I just started watching this instead of the Philly and Boston game. I just kept focusing on it, it was great to see everything Kyrie did and the Timberwolves were fantastic, they took hit after hit after hit, cat was great, they had a lot of contributions from other people, it was a big win for them, I'm not. I'm sure this is what needs to be said: the Nets don't need to win and I don't disagree with you, but I'm not sure this is where the Nets want to play every night. I'm not sure you know the way.

Kyrie dominated the ball and even Kenny Atkinson made some slight references to this after the game, but I'm not going to worry about this on opening night, this in itself was a great basketball game to watch, I don't think. Ideally, that's what you want the Nets to do every night, but let's wait and see how it plays out, yes, absolutely, and look, I don't think he's going to have a 40% usage rate every night. Although I do think you will see it a lot. Don't you think? It won't be great to share networks. They are all there.

Then we had last year. He'll have a lot on his shoulders without Katie being there. She will have a lot on her shoulders. Who carried the offensive load? Thanks for watching. ESPN on YouTube For more sports highlights and analysis, be sure to download the ESPN app and to stream live sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus.