HOUSTON – When Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka watches Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving handle the basketball, there’s one thing that completely stands out from anything else he’s ever seen.
“He’s the best one-on-one player I’ve seen or coached or been around,” Udoka said prior to the Mavs’ 125-107 victory over the Rockets on Sunday night at the Toyota Center. “It’s not a one-off, it’s not a one game or every other game.
“It’s an every night thing. It’s an every practice thing. He does something that wows you.”
Udoka should know. Udoka was an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2020-21 season when Irving was one of the team’s superstars.
In adding to Irving’s status as the most skilled one-on-one player he’s ever seen, Udoka said: “I was at USA Basketball (in 2019) and myself, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, we were all talking about the best one-on-one players and they’ve all played with Kyrie and I think without hesitation everybody said it was Kyrie.
“Like I said, I saw it on a day-to-day basis. It still makes you shake your head some of the things he does.”
Irving took the compliments from Udoka in stride.
“I’m appreciative of those compliments and I honor those compliments,” Irving said. “I’ll say this as well, I’m appreciative of everyone’s most-skilled 
compliments, but that’s not the reason why I picked up the basketball. I didn’t pick up the basketball to be the best one-on-one player of all-time or to be labeled as the most skilled.
“I just want to be known as a great winner, one of those guys that came through our league and left an impact and did it his own way. But also did it with some special teammates and truly was just inspirational in my approach in how I woke up every single day and worked toward my craft and just set an example for not only athletes, but for people around the world to follow in my footsteps, to make mistakes in the public forum and learn from them and mature as a young man.”
Udoka even made mention of the 21-foot game-winning left-handed hook shot Irving converted at the buzzer to stun the defending champion Denver Nuggets, 107-105, on March 17.
“The left-handed runner to win the game a few games ago is something that he works on,” Udoka said. “He has that touch, has that confidence and it’s not a lucky shot by any means.
“A funny story, (former NBA coach) Mike D’Antoni was there with me, and all the great players he’s coached and seen, he taps my leg once a game when something Kyrie did offensively. So, it’s no surprise to anybody. I think he’s by far the best offensive player I’ve ever seen.”
While many other basketball aficionados know all of that may be true, Irving — he had 24 points and seven assists on Sunday — would like to pump the brakes a bit on the flowers being tossed in his direction.
“It’s not easy being a child prodigy growing up in America,” Irving said. “People expect you to be more mature than what you are. I’m appreciative of
Ime’s comments, but also I want to kind of relay the message to the rest of the world that the most-skilled, just save those compliments for after I’m done.
“I never want to discredit the people who came before me. There were some (great skilled players) that came before me. Before you start saying I’m the most skilled, again I respect everyone’s compliments, but don’t put me in that conversation until you really get to know NBA history and who’s come before me and guys that have scored a gazillion points and assists and rebounds and made a true impact. I just want to fall in alignment with that and just continue to pass the game on to the next generation.”
A 2022 FEEL: Mavs coach Jason Kidd said this season reminds him strikingly similar to the 2021-22 season when the Mavs went 17-5 over their final 22 regular season games, then advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
“It has that feel — the confidence,” Kidd said. “Everyone’s locked in understanding the game plan, understanding that it is the end of March and that every game means something.
“We understand where we stand as of today. This test has started for us in Utah (last Monday) and we’re just trying to take one at a time.”
The Mavs aced another test on Sunday when they defeated the Houston Rockets, 125-107, after the Rockets entered the game as the NBA’s hottest team with wins in 11 consecutive games. Now with wins in 11 of their last 12 games, it’s on to face the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday at 9 p.m.
“We’ve got to stay hungry,” Kidd said. “I think when I say ‘better,’ it’s not for us to rebound better or us to block shots better.
“It’s just for us to continue to stay hungry and stay consistent. We don’t want to sit and feel like we’ve accomplished anything, because we haven’t. We’re trying to (accomplish something) and understand what we’re playing for.”
BRIEFLY: Mavs guard Josh Green missed Sunday’s game with a right ankle sprain . . . Luka Dončić now has made 257 three-pointers this season. That ties the Mavs’ single-season record for three-pointers converted set by George McCloud during the 1995-96 season . . . It was not a good weekend on the Houston sports scene. Not only did the Houston Rockets have their NBA-best 11-game winning streak broken by the Mavs on Sunday, but the Houston Astros got swept in their four-game season-opening home stand against the New York Yankees. And the Houston Cougars were eliminated in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament by Duke on Friday night, 54-51, at American Airlines Center.
X: @DwainPrice
Share and comment