I Studied Rod Strickland to Understand Kyrie Irving

I watched Rod Strickland film because I wanted to see how much Kyrie Irving may have taken from his game. Then I found something I wasn’t expecting: Rod Strickland is Kyrie Irving’s godfather. But the connection goes even deeper. Rod and Kyrie’s father, Drederick Irving, grew up together in the Mitchel Houses in the Bronx, playing basketball on the same courts. And when I started going back through Rod’s film, I began noticing some striking similarities between the two players. The creativity, the handle, the change of pace, the way they manipulate defenders, and especially the way they finish around the rim. In this video, I break down Rod Strickland’s game and compare it to Kyrie Irving’s to see whether these similarities go beyond just having a great handle. Because maybe the connection between Rod and Kyrie isn’t about one specific move. Maybe it’s about the way they think the game. 🔥 FREE BASKETBALL CONTENT Follow IsoScoring for daily breakdowns of the greatest scorers in basketball and learn how to take the details from their games and apply them to your own. 📱 Instagram: @isoscoring 📱 TikTok: @isoscoring203 Subscribe for more basketball breakdowns and scoring tips. ************ 0:00 — 0:48 Intro 0:49 — 1:56 Rod Strickland & Kyrie's Connection 1:57 — 3:00 Rod Strickland's Finishing 3:01 — 4:54 Kyrie Uses the Same Finishing Ideas as Rod 4:55 — 5:39 Same Decisions, Different Moves 5:40 — 6:42 Kyrie vs. Rod: Same Ideas 6:43 — 8:06 Did Rod Influence Kyrie?