From All Angles: Nets React To Kyrie Irving's Mesmerizing Dunk
While the Brooklyn Nets were manning a 19-point lead with 8:52 remaining in the second quarter, something unexpected occurred.
Off a jump shot at the nail from wing Yuta Watanabe hit the back of the rim, it's usually Nic Claxton who flies in to clean up the miss. Instead, it was bolting Kyrie Irving coming from the left wing destined to make a statement.
Irving rose up and threw down a one-handed putback dunk to put the sellout crowd of 18,224 on their feet and into a frenzy. His teammates sprung off the bench in disbelief, and a few seconds later, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich called a timeout.
"I'm like this close to getting tired of people downplaying my athleticism at times in that locker room. I'm like this close. On a serious note, I'm glad I can have those types of plays at times to galvanize the group. Glad it went in. Good timing," Irving said on his putback dunk postgame. “I've been working on my body for the last year and a half two years especially recovering from that traumatic ankle injury I had during the 2021 playoffs I just felt like I didn't have my feet underneath me at the end of last season so coming into this season I definitely put an emphasis on being more on my toes and getting stronger and my foundational base. If you wanted to know the scientific aspect of that."
“Probably a big smile on my face," said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn on what his reaction to Irving's dunk was at the time. "We actually just replayed it right there to the group. We talked about it, about celebrating each other, and for him to have a dunk and our guys appreciate and enjoy it and really cheer him on is pretty cool.”
It's not often you see Irving display his dunk package in an NBA contest, let alone a springy one-handed putback slam. Take it from the Nets point forward Ben Simmons: “I think I was at the top of the paint. It felt like 2K, honestly. I didn’t know he can do that.”
