Irving: Watching 'Whiplash' was 'turning point' in my career

Prior to seeing the 2014 Best Picture nominee "Whiplash," was Kyrie Irving rushing or dragging when it came to his career aspirations?

Irving has a ritual of writing "Whiplash" on his game shoes, and UConn women's team coach Geno Auriemma asked the Boston Celtics point guard about it on the first episode of his "Holding Court" podcast.

"I saw (the film) in Kobe's 'Muse' documentary that he released," Irving told Auriemma. "He was talking about 'Whiplash,' and I was like, 'Man, I got to catch that movie.' I had no idea what it was going into it. I ended up ordering it and watching it, and watched it over and over, and watched it probably about six times."

The film, which garnered three Academy Awards, features J.K. Simmons as a physically and verbally abusive music teacher who goes well beyond acceptable practices in schooling a young drum prodigy, played by Miles Teller.

For Irving, the drive Teller's character demonstrates served as inspiration for overcoming some of the obstacles in his own professional journey.

"I was amazed," Irving continued. "I felt like that was the turning point, because I saw it in the middle of 2015 - and this was probably when I was injured as well - but it was just that twitch. It was just that extra level that I knew I had to push through despite what I was going through."

It's no shock that Irving was able to relate his own experiences to those displayed on the silver screen. New York Times film critic A.O. Scott remarked in his review that Whiplash "could easily have been a sports movie, and structurally, it resembles one."

"No one gets to see the things you do behind closed doors," Irving told Auriemma. "The sleepless nights and staying up late and bleeding, basically bleeding for your craft because you want to be that great. I took all that from that movie, and from that standpoint I started to love it more and more, and I started writing ('Whiplash') on my shoes. It meant something to me and it still does."