Dallas Mavs' Kyrie Irving on NBA Player Rankings: 'I'm Here to Win Games'

Following up his response to recent NBA player rankings, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving is confident with where he sees himself among his peers.

Following the Dallas Mavericks' 114-104 preseason finale victory against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, Kyrie Irving spoke on the win and his recent response on social media to ESPN's NBArank, which placed him at No. 34 out of the league's top 100 players.

"It's hard not to see them because we're in the business of media," Irving said. "As a player that's been in this league for a while, I haven't always dealt with the criticism in the best way and not afraid to speak my voice. I think at that moment, I saw those rankings, I was just more or less saying to my peers and the young guys like this list doesn't mean anything."

And Irving is right -- those lists and rankings mean nothing at the end of the day. ESPN's NBArank, and any other list, is just one group of people's views on where you stand within the league. And for a player with such a strong voice, who many young players look up to, it's important for Irving and other's to spread confidence amongst their peers. The eight-time All-Star has never been afraid to speak his mind.

Mavs guard Kyrie Irving and center Dereck Lively II share an embrace in Friday's preseason win vs. Detroit Pistons / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

"Obviously, we all have our boundaries, but it's good to see kind of everyone else's opinions on who's the best in the world and us as players, it's our job to feel like we're the best in the world,” Irving said. "There’s that healthy banter, and I'm always going to stand on my head and on my principles and have that confidence inside me like I'm one of the best in the world. No matter if I'm 31 or if I'm 35, I'm still going to feel the same way until somebody proves me otherwise."

Can seeing your name ranked below where you think it should upset you? Sure it can, and Irving, along with any other player who disagreed with their ranking, has the right to feel that way if those kind of things motivate them. But at the end of the day, Irving knows what's most important to him and the Mavericks, and that's winning basketball games.

"We're here to win basketball games, and that will be the true success and true rankings at the end of the season," Irving said. "And that's where our focus should be."

---