5 Things We Learned from Kyrie Irving's Q+A with Nike in London

Inside the mind of one of basketball's modern greats.

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Nike

Image via Nike

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The NBA rolled into town last week as two Eastern powerhouses battled at London’s O2 Arena. The Boston Celtics, led by All-Star MVP guard Kyrie Irving treated the sell-out crowd crowd to arguably the greatest NBA London game to date. The Sixers jumped out to an early 20pt lead, led by hot shooting from TJ (McConell) and JJ (Redick), but were eventually ground down by the young Celtics, currently sitting above Lebron James’ Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.

Just the day before, we held an audience with Kyrie Irving in the centre of London at Royal Festival Hall. To launch the Kyrie 4, his latest signature sneaker with Nike – he held court on stage and shed a light into his current thoughts.

Appearing confident and philosophical at times, Kyrie’s self-awareness and drive, easily points towards his decision to become his own man out in Boston. Here are the major takeaways.

1. Music Is Very Important to Kyrie

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His latest ad slot for Nike – ‘Find Your Groove’ – featured The Boston Philarmonic Orchestra, and once again, in London, the theme was also centred around music. Welcomed to the stage by a drum section from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he spoke at his length for his appreciation of music and how it involves his game. Speaking with us later, I asked him his thoughts on the list of rap tracks titled after him from regional talents like Lil Cray to global stars like Rick Ross, and he told us:


“I’m appreciative of it, because it’s an art. To have your name in a song, it’s like woah, I actually heard my name on the radio or in a song and if I have an appreciation for their art, to have that reciprocated, it’s pretty cool.”

Just don’t expect Kyrie to follow Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’ Neal’s examples and take it to the booth, he’s firmly “just a fan of great music and great individuals.”

2. Kyrie Loves London

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Before the day properly got underway, the Celtics guard took a moment, pausing the session to gaze around the “intense” hall:


“You can hear it and you can feel it, if you close your eyes it'll paint pictures of memories or distinct moments that will captivate you. You can feel those moments in time, when someone was driven to create these frequencies and sounds, whether alone or in a group. Individually they all were guided by an energy that gave them the sound”.

Accepting he wouldn’t have enough time to see the City properly on his whistle stop tour this time, he shared hopes to return to the City and check it all out in his own time. At six-foot-three-inches he doesn’t freakishly stand out in public, like some of the giants of the league – and that should allow him to peacefully blend into the tourist crowd, on his next visit over.

3. He's a Fan of the NBA's Current European Stars

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Future hall-of-famers Tony Parker from France, Dirk Nowitzki of Germany and the Gasol Brothers of Spain were listed as particularly influential to Irving, growing up:


“If you can play the game at a high level, you’ll be seen, talent supersedes anything when you develop it over time, a couple of those guys have done that...some European players have been playing for their national teams since they were 13 or 14. There's just this fluidity that they play with, that I just marvel at."

 

4. He's Inspired by Tesla

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5. Kyrie Is Ready to Discover Grime

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