Max Christie beats Kyrie Irving in key area he never could've seen coming

After what's been the craziest month of Dallas Mavericks basketball, the Mavs have now won five out of their last six games.

Kyrie Irving is on possibly his best stretch of performances so far this season, as the keys to the ignition now go through him after the Luka Doncic trade.

While fans are eager to see Anthony Davis and Caleb Martin play, it was revealed that Davis is getting healthier, giving a glimpse of hope for the city of Dallas since they saw Davis' monstrous debut against the Houston Rockets.

With Irving putting up some All-Star performances lately, he made an interesting revelation about his new teammate, Max Christie. Irving pointed out that Christie is someone who's putting in the extra work to become the major factor that he's becoming today.

Christie's dedication is drawing eyes, even from Irving

If there's been one thing for fans to look forward to, it's been watching Christie play as he's been softening the blow of the Doncic trade. In Christie's seven games played with Dallas, he's averaging 17.1 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and 47 percent from deep. This has been one of the greatest starts to any new Maverick following an in-season trade.

Irving, who takes pride in putting in any extra work he can, gave Christie his flowers before facing the New Orleans Pelicans. In an interview with NBA TV following a win against the Pelicans, Irving talked to former Maverick Brendan Haywood about his own preparation before each game.

"Max Christie beat me here to the arena tonight, you know one of the few young guys that actually beats me to the arena so we were smiling about that," Irving said. "It makes my job easier to go out there on the floor when I know everybody's putting their best foot forward preparation-wise, and then are going to play very hard defensively and will live with the result offensively if we're playing together."

When asked before the contest about when his other past teammates would beat him to the arena, Irving said "not often."

Christie's play is impacting the team in the most positive way since the Doncic trade, and hopefully, it won't be long until Davis gets involved in that too. As someone who's already showing that he's a perfect fit with Dallas, he's also showing that he has strong leadership, and its impact on the team is speaking volumes.

Christie has proven that he deserves a starting role or more minutes at the very least, which will give Jason Kidd a good problem to work with. To see that Christie's work is translating in the games, starting by beating one of the greatest ball handlers in NBA history to the gym, it's a testament to how far Christie can actually go as an NBA player.

Christie wants to be great, and he is taking every necessary step to do just that.