Kyrie Irving

`

Kyrie Irving

Uncle Drew, Little Mountain, and Enigmatic NBA Superstar

Martin Gitlin

224 pages
16 illustrations, index

Hardcover

October 2019

978-1-4962-1349-5

$26.95 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

October 2019

978-1-4962-1846-9

$26.95 Add to Cart
eBook (EPUB)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

October 2019

978-1-4962-1844-5

$26.95 Add to Cart

About the Book

Perhaps no NBA player today is as exciting and yet enigmatic as Kyrie Irving. Martin Gitlin’s biography chronicles Irving’s brilliance on the court as a devastating one‑on‑one talent, examines the influence of his father, the untimely death of his mother, his growth as a basketball player in high school and college, and his journey in the NBA.

Nicknamed the “Isolation Assassin,” Irving has earned the distinction as the most incredible isolation player in the league, outperforming rivals such as Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook with his crossover dribble, drives to the basket, stop‑and‑go moves, and smooth, feathery jumpers, a distinction borne out, moreover, by his championship-clinching shot against Curry’s Golden State Warriors in 2016. Yet while he speaks of maximizing his talent, he has shown reluctance to maximize the production of his teammates by passing the ball, as well as his overall defense. Irving expresses his desire to win championships yet demanded a trade away from the franchise best suited to deliver him a second.

Off the court there is no one like Irving either. An educated individual who claims that the earth could be flat and that dinosaurs perhaps never existed, Irving is a man of puzzling contradictions who seeks self-actualization and contentment through a variety of pursuits, including reflection, music, and acting. Gitlin, a veteran writer who has followed Irving’s career from the beginning, has much to tell about one of the most mysterious and sensational athletes of our time whose appeal transcends his sport.
 
 

Author Bio

Martin Gitlin is a veteran sportswriter who worked for seven years at CBSSports.com. He has won more than forty-five awards as a newspaper journalist, including first place for general excellence in journalism from the Associated Press. Gitlin is the author of more than 150 books, including The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time, Powerful Moments in Sports: The Most Significant Sporting Events in American History, and The 100 Greatest American Athletes.
 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments    
Introduction    
1. The Prodigy from Down Under    
2. Rising Above the Ballers of Jersey    
3. Steppingstone to Stardom    
4. Rocking and Rolling to Cleveland    
5. Stagnation    
6. Old Story and New Contract    
7. Changing Expectations    
8. The Ecstasy and the Agony    
9. Spreading His Wings    
10. The Run and “The Shot”    
11. The Off-Season of Dreams    
12. Swan Song in Cleveland    
13. Say What?     
14. The Great Escape    
15. Speaking and Saying Nothing    
16. Going Green    
17. A Question of Value    
18. A Recovery and . . . a Reunion?     
Epilogue    
Notes    
Index    

Also of Interest