Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers hits the game winning shot against the Boston Celtics Sunday / Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
Reporting Daryl Ruiter
CLEVELAND (92.3 The Fan) - There is a lot of hype and pressure that comes with being the top pick in a draft.
Unlike the Browns, when the Cavaliers have had the top spot they’ve hit a home run and the early returns on their selection of Kyrie Irving last June appears to be no different.
The Cavaliers have selected four number one overall picks in the franchise’s history – Austin Carr (1971), Brad Daugherty (1986), LeBron James (2003) and Irving (2011).
The first three – Carr, Daugherty and James all played prominent roles on playoff teams but none have brought home that elusive NBA championship.
James came the closest in 2007 by leading the Cavaliers to their first ever Eastern Conference title before they were quickly swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
It’s now on Irving to change that and if you ask the Miami Heat – they think one day he just might.
James, whose defection to Miami turned the Cavaliers from a championship contender into a lottery team in one year, gushed over the rookie from Duke Thursday afternoon.
“I love him,” James said. “He’s an unbelievable basketball player. He’s beyond his years. Played 11 games in college you would never sense or think that he would come in and do the things that he’s doing now but I’ve been watching him play since he was a freshman in high school. I got an opportunity to mentor him when he was a sophomore in high school up until college and he’s doing great.
“He’s unbelievable and I know they’re happy to have him.”
The NBA is going through another transition league-wide. One where having a star point guard is going to be a necessity in the coming years and James sees it.
“It’s a huge piece,” James said. “It’s transforming into a point guard league. It’s not there yet because you still have D-Wade, Kobe, Kevin Durant – you know all these great wing guys but it’s a point guard league. When you look at Russel Westbrook, you look at the MVP from last year Derrick Rose you look at Chris Paul, John Wall Kyrie Irving, Steve Nash, Tony Parker is still playing at a high level. If you have a really good point guard you have a chance to win.
“It’s like having a really good quarterback in the NFL, if you have a really good quarterback you have a chance to win.”
Although they were losses, Irving and the Cavaliers gave the Heat a run for their money in their first two meetings earlier this season down in Miami.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra doesn’t view the Cavaliers as the doormat of the NBA like they were a year ago.
Because of Irving, he thinks Cleveland could return to contention a lot sooner that many expect.
“It’s a new chapter for the organization and they have a bright future,” Spoelstra said. “They’ve done a very quiet but solid job of building this team. The future looks great but the future could be now as well because they’re playing well.
“They’re a young team but on some nights they look extremely explosive.”
Irving just returned Wednesday night after missing three games with a concussion and he appears to be just fine after abusing the Pacers for 22 points.
He sustained the injury February 7th at Miami when he banged his head on the knee of Dwayne Wade late in the fourth quarter.
Wade is among the admirers of Irivng and admitted that the Cavaliers’ rookie is even better than he imagined that he would be.
“My impression of him is that he’s way better than I thought,” Wade said. “I thought he was good obviously to get drafted number one but we didn’t get a chance to see him a lot in college playing like 12 games or so but he has ‘it.’ That ‘it’ that everyone talks about but no one knows what ‘it’ is, he has it.”
“He’s a star in the making and fortunate for Cleveland they got another great one.”
