Kyrie Irving has made a name for himself throughout his still-young career as a clutch shot-maker. A search of “Kyrie Irving game-winner” on YouTube will instantly produce several selections. The cold-blooded walk-up three in Toronto (“The bottom!!”). The casual go-ahead three-pointer against Portland (his 11th triple of the game). How about the fall-away game-tying three against the Spurs? There are a handful more, but none will be immortalized more than the one he hit in June, over 2-time reigning regular season MVP Stephen Curry. “The Shot” is what it’s referred to now. A gorgeous, high-arcing step-back three-pointer that ensured LeBron James‘ super-human block on Andre Iguodala just seconds earlier wouldn’t go to waste. It gave the Cavs their first NBA championship, and it thwarted the Warriors’ quest to win back-to-back titles.
Draymond Green, one of two Warriors (Klay Thompson) playing on Team USA in this summer’s olympics, remembers that shot all too well. Heck, if it weren’t for his flailing antics, he might not have been suspended for a game during the Finals, and Cleveland might still be ring-less. Regardless, Green remembers Irving’s shot vividly, and Irving re-enacted it last night against Australia–ironically, his birthplace–to help clinch a tight victory over arguably America’s most formidable foe. You can see the shot at the tail-end of this brief highlight reel.
After the game, Draymond was on Snapchat as he always is, and he took a moment to acknowledge the efforts of ‘his son’ Kyrie Irving. What he revealed in the Snap’s caption, however, was that even though Irving’s glorious step-back benefited Green’s time this time around, Draymond will forever be haunted by the one he hit over his Warriors teammate.
Draymond knew pic.twitter.com/Yrf8JA1IbP
— Hector Diaz (@iamHectorDiaz) August 11, 2016
