After eight NBA seasons, one championship run and six All-Star selections, Boston Celtics superstar Kyrie Irving believes his basketball IQ has surpassed Mensa levels.
Irving confidently told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan that when it comes to basketball, he’s an “actual genius.”
Via ESPN.com:
“I’ve been playing basketball a lot longer than some of these people analyzing the game. I’m an actual genius when it comes to this game.
If you ask me about basketball, I will talk all day. If you ask me about spacing at the 3:33 mark of the second quarter, I will gladly explain it. I’ll tell you what plays worked, about adjustments we make. But when it comes to personal things, or comparing myself to my NBA brothers, like, ‘Do you think you are better than this guy?’ I’m out.”
It’s not the best look to proclaim yourself a genius, but Irving might have a pretty solid claim, depending on your definition of “genius.” Thinkers are eligible to join Mensa if they score in top two percent of a standard IQ test, meaning there are millions of people around the world you could charitably call geniuses – yet there is no standard prerequisite to earn the title of “genius.”
IQ tests are designed to measure your general cognitive ability and problem-solving skills, anyway, not your depth of knowledge and understanding of a particular subject. It’s probably more accurate to label Irving an “expert,” which he undoubtedly is, than a “basketball genius,” which is impossible to define. Is Kyrie Irving “a person endowed with extraordinary mental superiority,” to borrow the Merriam-Webster definition? Or is he simply an outstanding basketball player with a lot of experience?
