NBA teams
Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Irving's sacrifice boosts Cavs

NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers

In one of the most significant developments of this early NBA season, Kyrie Irving has made as many strides playing alongside LeBron James in six weeks as Dwyane Wade did in a full year.

There's a long way to go before the Irving-James partnership can be honestly compared to the James-Wade version. The stress tests have been minimal and the real pressure is months away. With that qualification out of the way, though, Irving's last month has been impressive and worthy of special notice.

Irving has rapidly and selflessly adjusted his game, yielding offensive control to James and diverting his interest and energy into areas that have proved to be instantly productive. After starting 1-3, the Cleveland Cavaliers have since gone 9-4 and are now on a five-game winning streak following Irving's 37-point explosion at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

The team's turnaround can significantly be tied to Irving's sudden transition.

"I can't believe the difference in his game and his on-court attitude," said one league scout. "I'm now interested to see if it will continue."

The effort level Irving has unveiled at the defensive end is unmistakable. For the first time in his career, he is fighting through screens, and it's had a positive ripple effect throughout the Cavs' defense. On offense, Irving has willingly taken a step back and allowed James to become the team's primary ball handler, while he's become more of a ball mover and team-oriented offensive player. He now patiently waits until James goes to the bench and then steps forward and re-takes on the role as primary scorer. Or, like the victory over the Knicks, when James is having an off scoring night, Irving is ready to step up.

The changes Irving has made can be illustrated by two high-scoring, low-assist performances. During the first week of the season, Irving had a 34-point, no assist game in 44 minutes at Utah. Playing point guard, his heavy dribbling and self-centered play contributed to the Cavs narrow loss as the team had just six assists.

Against the Knicks, Irving had just two assists in his 44 minutes, but it was done in conjunction with James, who has taken over a majority of ballhandling duties as Irving has willingly moved off the ball. This time the team had 19 assists.

James had 12 of them, and six of those assists went to Irving as the Cavs' stars operated together. By doing so, they Cavs survived a night when the team didn't play its best game.

Essentially, this is a complete reversal from how Irving has played the past few seasons. A talented shooter who is perhaps one of the greatest ball handlers the league has ever seen, Irving was a swinging gate defensively and sometimes irritated teammates by hogging the ball even when it created highlight plays.

In short, Irving has quickly made a leap from being a good player on a bad team to a winning player on a good team. And it has happened faster and more seamlessly than just about anyone could have predicted.

"[Playing with James] has been pretty good. Actually, it has been great," Irving told ESPN this week. "I'm really happy about where our team is headed and we're going to hit bumps, but that's part of the process. I'm enjoying it because we have such great guys in our locker room. It's the closest I've been with guys in my four years of playing in the NBA. There's nothing that compares to coming to work every single day knowing that you're having fun with guys that have your back and just want to win."

After James' first season with the Miami Heat -- which was productive but unsatisfying -- he and Wade had what would prove to be a crucial meeting. They believed attempting to have equal measures of success was holding them back, and Wade nudged James forward and asked to James to take over as the leading player without worrying about Wade's touches or role.

This was a selfless but strategic act from Wade. James is the better player and even though Wade had proven his championship mettle, the Heat would benefit by them acting their parts. James proceeded to win the next two Most Valuable Player Awards and the Heat won the next two titles.

The same sort of tug-of-war was developing early on between Irving and James. Though it wasn't inherently mean-spirited, there was no missing the friction between their games in the first few weeks of the season.

James attempted to deal with Irving by giving him freedom and attempting to nurture him with kindness, even declaring during training camp: "I'll probably handle the ball a little bit but this is Kyrie's show."

Then James sat back and tried to let Irving run the show. Within weeks, James was regretting that decision. When Irving went through that 70-minute stretch, including the Utah game, with no assists, James often ended up standing on the opposite side of the floor fuming.

Though they both publicly downplayed and even mocked the idea they had some words over the topic, they most certainly did. It was never a feud, though some jumped to that conclusion, but it sure as heck was a basketball disagreement. Whatever it was, James ended up speaking louder with his actions.

Starting with a game in Denver on Nov. 7, tired of the lack of ball movement and a bunch of dribbling, James took the ball and starting controlling the team himself. This has continued and it isn't a fluke that James has won Player of the Week in two of the last three weeks and the Cavs have suddenly started playing much better as a team.

But this was a challenge to Irving and an early pinch point for the two stars. Considering the lack of chemistry the two had showed in the first days of the season, it could've gone either way.

It must not be overlooked that unlike the Miami partnership in 2010 when the stars agreed to play together, James came to the Cavs outside of Irving's influence. When Irving signed his max contract extension on July 1 he did so thinking the Cavs were going to continue to be built around him.

Despite any conspiracy theories that exist, sources are adamant neither the Cavs nor Irving knew James was coming aboard in early July. James may have made up his mind by then and knew that learning to play with the decorated young guard with a reputation for being stubborn was going to be part of the deal.

But Irving was not included in the process, it was thrust upon him.

Irving is a proud man who has never been afraid to chart his own course. There is perhaps no greater example than his "Uncle Drew" campaign with Pepsi. It was Irving that came up with the character and presented it to Pepsi and its success is his. The fact that Irving was be voted in as an All-Star Game starter last year despite being on a dreadful team in a small market is a testament to his will and belief in himself.

Last summer, Irving beat out Damian Lillard and Derrick Rose to be the starting point guard on Team USA and the team moved Stephen Curry over to shooting guard. Then he proved to be the most valuable player in the World Cup victory, only validating that position.

He was showing that he was one of the best players in the league. So if he didn't want to just move in as James' sidekick, it wouldn't have been a stunner even if it might not have been the best for the Cavs. Instead, after a rocky start, that is exactly what Irving has dedicated himself toward.

And it hasn't just led to the Cavs getting some traction; it has accomplished something even more important.

It has won over James.

"Winning changes everything," James said. "You want to win, you sacrifice. That's what it's about. They asked the same questions about myself and D-Wade when I went to Miami in 2010, how were we going to play because we were so dominant. We won two championships and went to four straight Finals, so obviously we figured it out.

"When you want to be a really good team, you sacrifice whatever it takes for the team to win."

ESPN reporter Darren Rovell contributed to this story.

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