Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game produced a sequence that basketball fans have seen quite a few times before. In the fourth quarter of the star-studded event at Spectrum Center in Charlotte N.C., Kyrie Irving floated a slick alley-oop to LeBron James as Team LeBron padded its lead over Team Giannis. Irving and James teamed up for countless highlight-reel plays over the course of their three seasons together with the Cleveland Cavaliers. But putting nostalgia aside, several folks on Twitter believe (or hope) the Irving-to-James alley-oop was a sign of things to come as Irving’s future with the Boston Celtics remains uncertain.<doc-sep>CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Some players might reach a point when the luster of another All-Star Game dulls a bit, but that clearly never will happen to Kyrie Irving. The Celtics guard was able to achieve a two-fold purpose while helping Team LeBron come back to beat Team Giannis, 178-164, in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night. After missing the Celtics’ last two games with a right knee sprain, Irving was able to get in a 25-minute run, play better the longer he was on the floor and finish with 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists while teaming with old friend LeBron James. As far as Irving was concerned, not only was the rest that forced him to miss wins against Philadelphia and Detroit important. Sunday night’s run was important in getting him ready for an enormous start to the stretch run, with Thursday night’s game in Milwaukee followed two games later by a trip to Toronto. “I’ve been doing a lot of work every single day even to just play in this game,” he said. “It felt great. I missed it. I don’t ever want to take games off, but when it has to do with the investment I put into my body, I’m just glad that it’s at a high level.” Irving flew to Charlotte with members of the Celtics medical staff and his own personal training staff. “I’m happy. My strength and conditioning coach, my own training staff that I hired myself, every single day has been communication, making sure I can play in the game,” he said. “We understand it’s an All-Star Game, but to go up and down before Thursday comes, I’d be a lot worse if that was my first time playing in basically two weeks. Five days in the NBA season is a lot of time. I’m not sure people realize that. Being away from the game, especially if you have to get off your feet. Getting up shots tonight, being around this camaraderie and competition, was good.” Above all, Irving feels a bit lucky. His injury, suffered during a Feb. 7 loss to the Lakers, could have been worse. “It’s been too long since I played a game,” Irving said. “I’ve shot a basketball twice in the last eight days. Just getting off my legs. It really came from that hit I took in the Lakers game. My knee buckled in a way that the strength in my quad caught it, and it could have been worse. It buckled and then our training staff said hey, let’s go in the back. TATUM SHINES Jayson Tatum ultimately had quite the weekend, winning Saturday night’s Skills Challenge and scoring 30 points a night earlier during the U.S. team’s win against the International team in the Rising Stars Challenge. His 3-point shooting in the two events combined was a silky 9-for-18, including 3-for-4 during the Skills Challenge, when he missed his first shot and buried the rest. IN HIS DEFENSE All-Star weekend is filled with survey-like questions, including one reporter taking opinions from the players on their view of athlete stereotypes. Tatum, clearly bothered with the perception that professional athletes aren’t thankful enough, perked up with his response. “There’s quite a few,” he said. “Sometimes people get the idea that we should be grateful to be where we are, rather than that we worked for it, that we worked our butts off our whole life and deserve it. A lot of people get upset when guys demand a trade or try to leave teams. A lot of people say how could you, or he should just be happy to be in the NBA. That’s not the case. Everybody here worked their tails off to get to this point.” SWAN SONGS Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki – the former in his final season and the latter yet to make an announcement – essentially were honorary additions to Sunday night’s game. NBA commissioner Adam Silver seemed to make the decision on Nowitzki’s behalf when he said, “I saw him painfully running up and down the court, and I think it was clear that this was going to be his last season.” Related Articles Celtics rolled in Brooklyn, 130-108, fall behind 0-2 in series Celtics finally see a light at the end of the COVID tunnel Celtics Notebook: Rob Williams on track for Game 2 Jayson Tatum takes quiet road to the top Notebook: Walker, Celtics search for more Game 2 looks One word came to Irving’s mind when asked about the big German, who was taken a spot ahead of Paul Pierce (ninth and 10th overall) in the 1998 NBA draft. “Legend,” Irving said. “One of the best international players — bump international — one of the best players ever. Just came in with a chip on his shoulder. Started from being just that skinny 7-foot shooter that nobody thought could last in the league, just a guy that plays basketball at a very high level. You look at him, and he doesn’t scream at you in terms of athleticism, doesn’t scream at you in terms of his build, but just a (beast) on the court. Just taking the league by storm. Averaging 27, 28, doing it in Dallas for 21 years is awesome. You don’t really see it as often in the league now with guys staying with the franchises, but to see that. (Mavs owner) Mark Cuban taking care of him for 21 years is awesome.”<doc-sep>When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again Irving went into the mid-season showpiece nursing a slight knee injury but managed to come through it unscathed. And what he said after the game will be music to the ears of Boston Celtics fans who are relying on him to fire them into contention for the NBA championship. Irving injured his knee against the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month. “That hit that I took in the Lakers game, really tightened up my (thigh tendon) and then my knee buckled in a way," he said.<doc-sep>Kyrie Irving playing in All-Star Game is no big deal - as long as he doesn't get hurt originally appeared on nbcsportsboston.com Kyrie Irving is in Charlotte this weekend for the NBA's All-Star festivities and, should he continue to progress from the right knee strain that sidelined him this week, he'll be on the court Sunday fulfilling his duties as a fan-voted starter for Team LeBron. Make no mistake, it won't be great optics if Irving plays. Irving missed the Celtics' final two games before the break and it will be hard for many fans to reconcile him participating in a glorified exhibition game. It's like when a kid stays home from school "sick" but claims to be recovered for a fun after-school activity. A. SHERROD BLAKELY - Not playing would send a strong message that Kyrie's focused on Celtics Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was initially leery as well. But Irving was headed to Charlotte regardless of game participation, not only because of NBA and sponsorship obligations, including being a coach of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night, but also because he had planned to take a group of family and friends along for the experience before he injured his knee earlier this month. The Celtics' training staff suggested that, if Irving was 100 percent healthy and cleared for all activities before the game Sunday, that the weekend's activities might offer a chance to engage in the sort of light basketball work he might otherwise seek in his normal recovery. Both Ainge and Celtics coach Brad Stevens signed off on the idea with the promise that Irving would be at full health. Irving was accompanied to Charlotte by team trainer Brian Dolan, along with Irving's personal trainer, Robin Pound. Ainge said he has full confidence that neither Dolan nor Pound would allow Irving to play if there was any concern about his health. The Celtics are not scheduled to practice as a team until Wednesday, when they will fly to Milwaukee and have an afternoon practice the day before the Thursday showdown with the East-leading Bucks. Story continues Before the victory over the Pistons on Wednesday night, Stevens explained the team's reasoning behind letting Irving play. "[Irving has] been day-to-day, I think that there would be a chance that, if we played Friday or Saturday that he'd be cleared, and I guess my thought would be, if he would have been cleared for us on Friday or Saturday, then he should probably play [in the All-Star Game]," said Stevens. "If there's any issues at all and he's not 110 percent, I would not play. "The reason I say that is because you're going to have to get your basketball activity in regardless. You need to get up and down the court. We can't do anything, per NBA rules, until mid-next week when we get back together. To me, it makes sense, if he's 100 percent. He's gotta be 100 percent." This is not to suggest that the only basketball Irving could have found this weekend in Charlotte was the All-Star Game. Still, the Celtics seem confident that the nature of this weekend's activities will help Irving shake off some rust while not putting him at too much risk for further injury. Still, the Celtics will have to hold their breath, because an Irving reaggravation that costs him any more regular-season games would be an especially bad look. Still, the case the team makes is that he'd be just as much at risk in a team-controlled environment as he will be in the alley-oop fest that is the All-Star Game. Let's remember, too, that Irving's most important chore in Charlotte might simply be schmoozing. It's a chance to cross paths with, say, Anthony Davis and give him some insight on what the future holds for Irving and the Celtics. As long as Irving is healthy and on the court on Thursday night in Milwaukee, his All-Star participation will ultimately be a tiny blip on a Celtics season filled with more noteworthy drama. But it certainly does little to pluck Irving from the spotlight he's lived in for much of the past month. MORE CELTICS - Five factors to watch for the C's to finish on a high note Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.<doc-sep>
Irving had an acrimonious split from LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2017. The 26-year-old requested a trade which saw him moved to the Boston Celtics. It was widely reported that Irving was tired of playing in James' shadow and was in search of his own team. It hasn't panned out entirely that way with the Celtics so far, with this season proving to be below par for Boston's standards. But any hint of ill-feeling between Irving and James was seemingly put to bed earlier this year when the former revealed he reached out to the three-time NBA champion. "Obviously, this was a big deal for me, because I had to call [LeBron] and tell him I apologised for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips, and I wanted everything at my threshold," Irving said in January. "I wanted to be the guy that led us to a championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that, and the responsibility of being the best in the world and leading your team is something that is not meant for many people. However, when asked again about the nature of his relationship with James at the All Star weekend, Irving was in no mood to give a response. Kyrie Irving shot down a question about LeBron James at the All Star weekend Kyrie Irving is once again on LeBron James' All Star team "It's none of your business," he said. This is the second year of the new All Star format, in which two captains pick from a pool of players selected as All Stars. LeBron has been a captain in both years and has selected Irving for his team both times. The Los Angeles Lakers star selected Kevin Durant with his first pick, before taking Irving with his second. Kyrie Irving is making his sixth NBA All Star appearance