Kyrie takes on NBA great in latest Uncle Drew chapter
While Kyrie Irving is still currently recovering from a knee injury, we now have a chance to see him put on a basketball show as his alter ego.
Pepsi dropped the latest installment -- Chapter 4 -- of its Uncle Drew series Thursday morning, starring Irving gray-haired baller who's still got skills.
This edition features a former member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and an NBA 3-point legend. See if you immediately recognize them in the video.
Those ex-players making cameos are Baron Davis and Ray Allen.
Best line is Drew's comeback to the Allen-played Walt when asked if he knows how to spell "H-O-R-S-E" -- I ain't never made it past H."
In a recent appearance on FOX Sports Ohio's game broadcast, Irving said we would not be seeing a reunion between Drew and Kevin Love's character, Wes.
The previous chapters still posted to Pepsi's YouTube (the one featuring Love is no longer on their official account) have racked up more than 60 million views.
It's something that Irving -- the Cleveland Cavaliers star who is expected to soon make his season debut after recovering from the knee injury that knocked him out of last season's NBA Finals -- never envisioned, given that he was thrilled when the first Drew chapter three years ago crossed the 1,000-view mark.
"Man, this is amazing," Irving said. "And now thinking about the progress we've had, being on Chapter 4 now, it's really amazing.
"I was actually on the court shooting once and this little kid and his father came over and the father says the kid watches Uncle Drew all the time," Irving said. "The kid was 2 or 3 at the most and he whispered to me in the cutest kid voice, `I get buckets.' I started laughing hysterically.
"It put into perspective what Uncle Drew means to people out there."
Chapter 4 starts with a pair of new characters, Louis (played by Davis) and Angelo (played by Smoove) talking with Drew about the best shooters to play the game. During that debate, one brings up Drew's longtime nemesis Walt (played by Allen). Everyone, like the characters who were played by Kevin Love, Nate Robinson and Maya Moore in the past, is made to appear significantly older than they actually are.
Drew and Walt rekindle their rivalry by playing H-O-R-S-E, with a crowd surrounding the court.
Past chapters have shown Drew playing full-court 5-on-5, though this one was filmed when Irving was still in the midst of recovering from the knee issue and that likely played a role in how he crafted the latest script.
"What happens out there when we do these, it's not fake," Irving said. "We're out there playing and showing why we're NBA players. That's what makes the spot so funny. We're these older people, these older personas, and teaching these young guys that, hey, we can still do this."
Drew's name is derived from Irving's middle name, Andrew. There's more chapters of the story planned in the future, and yes, there's hope that one day Irving's fellow Cleveland star LeBron James -- who endorses a different drink company -- might be able to work his way onto the court alongside Uncle Drew.
"Uncle Drew is the guy that I used to see at the park with the sweatpants on at 6 or 7 in the morning, working on his game," Irving said. "And here comes the young guy, thinking he's going to be what he looks like: slow, very methodical in his moves, complaining the young guys don't understand the fundamentals of the game are what the make the game special and fun. I wanted to bring him to life with Uncle Drew."
Associated Press contributed to this story.
