Kyrie Irving will once again don his old man makeup this weekend when Uncle Drew hits theaters, and he's bringing an all-star cast of NBA and WNBA icons into the fold. With so many different professional sports personalities joining him on the basketball court, I recently had a chance to ask Irving if there were any sports icons who they couldn't get for the film. As it turns out, Irving actually wanted Duke's Coach K for Uncle Drew, but they ended up not getting him. The Boston Celtics player explained:
Coach K. Coach K. My guy. I wanted one of my close friends to be in it. I went to Duke, signed with Duke. It was like, I wanted coach to be in it, but we got Coach Cal.
Talk about friendship. Though Kyrie Irving had a very short college basketball career, which saw him play for Duke University for eleven games before suffering a toe injury, he clearly enjoyed his time playing under the tutelage of Mike Krzyzewski a.k.a Coach K. The two remained close after Irving made the jump to the NBA from his time at Duke, and he wanted to get his old friend into Uncle Drew for a cameo role. In the end, however, that didn't pan out, and Coach K couldn't appear.
With that said, Kyrie Irving also made sure to note that they were able to find another legendary coach to join the cast of the movie. Though Mike Krzyzewski didn't make it into the film, Uncle Drew does feature an appearance by John Calipari, a.k.a Coach Cal.
Of course, if you want a closer look at my chat with Kyrie Irving to discuss the casting in Uncle Drew, then you can take a look at a clip from our interview, below!
In addition to the fact that Uncle Drew was able to get Coach Cal into its packed ensemble instead of Coach K, it's also worth noting that the film features an all-star cast of icons from all over the basketball world. In fact, joining Kyrie Irving on the basketball court for the film are none other than Shaquille O'Neal, Lisa Leslie, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson and Chris Webber. Beyond that, the supporting cast is filled out with a fair number of notable comedians like The Oh, Hello Show's Nick Kroll, Girls Trip actress Tiffany Haddish, Curb Your Enthusiasm's J.B. Smoove and The Hangover's Mike Epps. No Coach K, but there's no shortage of talent in front of the camera.
Uncle Drew opens in theaters this weekend on June 29, so make sure to check it out! Moreover, if you are looking for more information about all of the films that are set to hit theaters this year, then check out our 2018 premiere guide!
