“Bro playing the keys with the rock” - LeBron James in awe of Kyrie Irving’s absurd pre-game dribbling routine

LeBron James was in awe of former teammate Kyrie Irving's absurd pre-game dribbling routine that was circulated on social media ahead of the Brooklyn Nets-Atlanta Hawks game on Saturday. James compared Irving's dribbling to the latter playing the keys as the guard bounced the ball off the floor by just switching his fingers.

James posted a story on his Instagram, captioning the video clip of Irving's routing:

"Bro playing the keys with the rock! He's just insane !!!"

Here's the clip:

Kyrie Irving is one of the best-ball handlers the NBA has ever seen. His skill set is unmatched when it comes to controlling the rock and making life difficult for players that guard him. LeBron James has played with and against Irving, so he would know best that the Nets' star's routine is not as easy as it looks.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving struggling to lead their respective teams to positive results.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have had their fair share of ups and downs this season. The championship-winning duo have been brilliant individually, but they haven't been able to translate that into collective success for their respective teams.

The LeBron James-led LA Lakers are 11th in the Western Conference standings, and their hopes of making the play-in tournament have gotten slimmer with each game. They have to face the Denver Nuggets twice, the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors in four of their remaining five games. The Lakers will have to go at least 4-1 or 5-0 in that stretch to get a shot at advancing to the play-in tournament.

To make matters worse, James and Anthony Davis are dealing with injuries right now and their availability will be questionable for every game moving forward. The Lakers season may not have gone as planned, but James is still in a strong position to add another individual accolade to his name.

He is averaging a league-high 30.3 points per game, and is leading the race to the second scoring title of his career.

Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving, who was suspended at the start of the season due to his anti-vaccination stance, has now been cleared to play home games for the Brooklyn Nets. He has been in stellar form since being called back by the franchise in January, averaging 26.9 points per game on 47/41/91 shooting splits.

However, the Nets have dropped to tenth in the Eastern Conference standings following their latest loss to the Atlanta Hawks. If they fail to climb up the table, they won't have a homecourt advantage in the two knockout games they will have to win to clinch the last playoff spot in the East.