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Was Kyrie Irving Making Fun of Hawks Defense?

Watch the video and decide.

Pat Benson

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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Alright, friends, it's time to put on your tinfoil hats. Luckily, Kyrie Irving already has his on (I kid, I kid). Yesterday, I captured a video of the Brooklyn Nets point guard warming up before playing the Atlanta Hawks in State Farm Arena.

As you can see in the tweeted video below, Irving was a) red hot and b) messing around and having fun. I didn't think much about what he was saying or doing in the video until the replies were full of fans trying to figure out which (if any) Hawks players Irving was joking about. 

In the video, you can hear Irving repeatedly saying things like "Him!" and "That dude, bring him up!" Miming an isolation where he picks on the poorest defender. Quick side note, guarding Irving looks like my personal nightmare, but I digress.

So what's the final verdict? Was Irving talking about a specific Hawks defender? I guess we'll never truly know. If you ask me, he wasn't thinking about anyone in particular. Instead, it was more like a kid shooting hoops against imaginary defenders in the backyard.

For what it's worth, Irving finished the game with an inefficient 31 points. The eccentric yet extremely talented guard shot 12-32 from the field and 7-14 from deep. His teammate, Kevin Durant, finished the game with a career-high 55 points. However, it still wasn't enough to win in Atlanta. Trae Young led the Hawks to victory with his 36 points and 10 assists. 

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Pat Benson
PAT BENSON

Pat Benson covers the Atlanta Hawks for Sports Illustrated's All Hawks. He has covered the NBA for several years and is the author of "Kobe Bryant's Sneaker History (1996-2020)".

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