Kyrie Irving Makes Brooklyn Nets History With Former Duke Coach Watching Courtside

Kyrie Irving put on quite the show on Saturday night when the Brooklyn Nets versed the New York Knicks at the Barclays Center, and all with his former Duke University coach, Mike Krzyzewski, otherwise known as Coach K, sitting courtside. To make the night even more memorable, Irving made Nets' franchise history.

Irving and the Nets defeated the Knick 122-115 and to make the win even better, Irving finished the night with 32 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. During the game, he made Nets' franchise history with his sixth straight game of scoring 30 or more points. This was also the Nets ninth straight win over the Knicks.

To make the night that much sweeter, Irving's former coach at Duke University was in attendance courtside. After the game, Irving and two of three other players at the game that Coach K has coached, including Seth Curry and R.J. Barrett, took photos together. Coack K won five NCAA championships and retired after leading Duke to the Final Four last season.

Last season, Irving talked about Coach K's legacy on the game in a postgame interview. "Coach's legacy on the game is really defined on all the lives he's impacted and then most importantly the way he takes care of his family, and he goes about his days," he said.

"There's not too many off days I see Coach K take. Whether that's being in the community helping out or being in the locker room and being there for guys on the court and off court, so he's gonna continue to build it, and his years being in this culture, this game, he's impacted so many lives and I'm just grateful I get to be one of those guys who gets to talk about it up here, because he's more than just a coach to me and to countless others."

He continued to explain that Coach K recruited him at the age of 16 or 17. "I thought the guy was brilliant, but I thought he was a little crazy," he said. "I was just an egotistic little kid at St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, and he comes into my house and makes everybody smile and I'm like this guy's either got to be crazy or incredibly, incredibly charming. And he's both, and that's what I needed from a competitive coach to really get the best out of me."

"I've grown up in New York, New Jersey, specifically the Bronx and Harlem, NY. My roots come from there. Then I moved to Jersey when I was about 8 or 9, 7 or 8," he said. "And I became a Jersey kid to the New York culture that I grew up in or the community. I became a Jersey kid."

Irving continued to explain his time growing up in New York and New Jersey and how that's helped him become the player he is today.

"I'm just grateful for all the friends and family I made along the way," he said. "It used to be so, so competitive. I don't think it's as competitive now because of the highlight culture, but the respect that you had to earn going from Brooklyn to Staten Island to Long Island to New Jersey or Connecticut or Delaware, you wanted to conquer all these states if you want to be number one, so for me, it was a goal of mine where I wanted to represent the east coast and then be one of the best in the world. I got to accomplish those goals."