Ahead of Monday’s Mavericks-Lakers tilt in Los Angeles, Mavericks lead guard Kyrie Irving had some interesting thoughts about facing off against his former teammate, Luka Doncic, in a game that will draw eyes from across the basketball-watching landscape due to the intrigue of the story.

The story of course is the trade that sent Doncic to LA for center Anthony Davis, who, after three quarters of elite play with Dallas, was injured and will be sidelined for several weeks. Meanwhile, Doncic is coming off his best game as a Laker, scoring 32 points, grabbing 10 boards, and recording seven assists. When asked about the narrative of the upcoming game, Irving had this to say about his former teammate, as well as the mindset going into a game that is sure to be full of hype.

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“[It will be] a high-level basketball game, lots of great players on the floor at once. Outside of the obvious of being in LA, [against] a former teammate…Obviously, the narrative is already written…I’m telling my guys to focus in on the high-level game that we have to win. I’d love to get into the emotions after the game…before the game, it’s about making sure that we…lock in and have a deep focus. They’re gonna be ready to play against us, Luka is obviously going to have a lot of confidence. He’s feeling good, and so we have to be aware of it.”

A consummate professional at this point in his career, Irving typically doesn’t let the media fully into his mindset and was a bit guarded here when discussing the game against his former teammate. He is a true leader on this Mavericks team and has the right mindset to help rally his current team to play with intentional focus. While Doncic will never play in a Mavericks uniform again, the fans at least have a player like Kyrie Irving to lead the team currently.