American basketball player (born 1992)
Kyrie Andrew Irving ( ; , lit. 'Little Mountain'; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. An eight-time All-Star and three-time member of the All-NBA Team, Irving won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016. He is widely considered one of the best ball handlers of all time.
Irving played one year of college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils before joining the Cavaliers in 2011. He won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the 2014 All-Star Game. In the 2016 NBA Finals, Irving made the championship-winning three-pointer to complete the Cavaliers' historic comeback over the Golden State Warriors. After another Finals appearance in 2017, Irving requested a trade and was dealt to the Boston Celtics. He played with the Celtics for two seasons, after which Irving signed with the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent in 2019. After four seasons with the Nets, he requested a trade and was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in 2023, where Irving reached his fourth NBA Finals with the team in 2024. He has also played for the United States national team, with which Irving won gold at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. In February 2020, he was elected as one of the seven vice-presidents of the National Basketball Players Association, replacing Pau Gasol. Irving's decision not to get vaccinated for COVID-19 led to him missing the majority of the 2021–2022 NBA season.
Throughout his career, Irving has promoted numerous conspiracy theories. Some of these conspiracies, including tweeting a link to the movie "", have been characterized as antisemitic. For a time prior, Irving promoted a theory that the Earth is flat, which he later recanted.
Irving has written, directed, and acted in a number of advertisements as "Uncle Drew", which became a feature film in 2018. He has starred as himself in "Kickin' It" (2012) and has done voicework in "We Bare Bears" (2016) and "Family Guy" (2018).
Early life.
Irving was born in Melbourne, Australia, on March 23, 1992; the son of Drederick Irving and Elizabeth (née Larson) Irving, American expatriates. He has an older sister, Asia, and a younger half-sister, London. Drederick played college basketball at Boston University alongside Shawn Teague (father of Jeff and Marquis Teague). After completing his college career, Irving's father moved to Australia to play professionally for the Bulleen Boomers in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). Irving and his family lived in the Melbourne suburb of Kew before relocating to the United States when he was two years old. Irving holds dual American and Australian citizenship. Although he was born left-handed, Irving was discouraged from using his left hand while studying in a Catholic school in 1996.
Irving's mother, who was African American and Lakota, died of an illness when he was four, and Drederick raised Irving along with the help of Irving's aunts. In 2004, Drederick remarried to Shetellia Riley, who is currently Kyrie Irving's agent.
Irving grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, where he frequently attended his father's adult-league games. Irving's inspiration to play in the NBA came after playing at Continental Airlines Arena during a school trip in fourth grade, when he declared, "I will play in the NBA, I promise." Due to his father's connection to Boston University, Irving spent a lot of time in Boston, including at BU's basketball skills camp. Irving said that in the fifth grade, he was offered a scholarship to Boston University by then-head coach Dennis Wolff. As a teenager, Irving played for the Road Runners of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
High school career.
Irving played for Montclair Kimberley Academy during his freshman and sophomore years in high school. Irving averaged 26.5 points, 10.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.6 steals and became only the second 1,000 point scorer in the school's history. In his sophomore year, Irving led MKA to its first New Jersey Prep 'B' state title. After that year, he transferred to St. Patrick High School because Irving felt he needed a bigger challenge. He had to sit out the first 30 days of St. Patrick's season due to the transfer. At St. Patrick, Irving played with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who was widely regarded as one of the best players in the class of 2011.
In his first season, Irving averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game, and led the team to its third New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in four years. In August 2009, he led the USA East to the tournament title in the Nike Global Challenge. Irving was the MVP with 21.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. The next year, St. Patrick was banned from the state tournament for holding practice prior to the permitted start of the winter sports season. St. Patrick went 24–3 and won the Union County Tournament championship as Irving finished his senior year with 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.
On January 19, 2010, Irving was selected to the 2010 Junior National Select Team. The team played at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, on April 10. He was also selected to play in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game and the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic, where Irving was named co-MVP with Harrison Barnes. In June 2010, Irving was a part of the United States gold medal-winning team at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.
College career.
Irving committed to Duke on October 22, 2009, in a television broadcast on ESPNU. He played with the Blue Devils during the 2010–2011 basketball season under the guidance of head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Through the first eight games of the season, Irving averaged 17.4 points per game on 53.2% shooting, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals.
Irving was a strong contender for NCAA Freshman of the Year until suffering an injury to his right big toe during the ninth game of the season. On March 17, the day before Duke played Hampton in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Irving returned for his first game since his injury.
Duke advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament but fell to Arizona. Irving scored 28 points in what turned out to be his last game for Duke.
Professional career.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2011–2017).
2011–2012: Rookie of the Year.
Irving announced that he would forgo his final three seasons of eligibility and enter the 2011 NBA draft, where Irving was selected with the first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was named to the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge, where he played for Team Chuck. Irving scored 34 points in the game, going 8-of-8 from three-point range, and earned MVP honors. He also won the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year Award with 117 of a possible 120 first-place votes. Irving was the only unanimous selection to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. For the season, he averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and shot 46.9% from the field, including 39.9% on three-pointers.
2012–2013: First All-Star appearance.
While practicing with the Cavaliers in the NBA Summer League on July 14, 2012, Irving sustained a broken right hand after reportedly slapping it against a padded wall after committing a turnover. "I am a little disappointed," he said. "I have to be more responsible about my health. It was just crazy. It happened so fast." Four days later, It was announced that Irving would require hand surgery.
At the start of the 2012–2013 NBA season, Irving injured his index finger in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He played in the Cavaliers' next game, but the injury forced Irving to miss three weeks of action. In his second game back, while donning a black protective face mask to protect a broken bone he suffered against Milwaukee, Irving scored his then-career-high 41 points against the New York Knicks. He became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40 points in Madison Square Garden; Irving was a year younger than Michael Jordan, who did it in 1985.
The coaches selected Irving to play in his first All-Star game. Irving finished with 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds. He also participated in the Rising Stars Challenge again, scoring 32 points for Team Shaq in a losing effort. Irving participated in the Three-Point Contest and recorded 23 points in the final round to win the event. He ended his second season with averages of 22.5 points, 5.9 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
2013–2014: All-Star Game MVP.
Fans chose Irving to be the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the 2014 NBA All-Star game. He was the All-Star game MVP, recording 31 points and 14 assists as the East beat the West 163–155.
On February 28, 2014, Irving recorded his first career triple-double with 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a 99–79 victory over the Utah Jazz. This was also the Cavaliers' first triple-double since March 16, 2010. On April 5, 2014, Irving recorded a then career-high 44 points in a 96–94 overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. He averaged 20.8 points, 6.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals on the season.
2014–2015: Big Three formation and first NBA Finals.
On July 10, 2014, Irving signed a five-year, $90 million contract extension with the Cavaliers. His contract extension came in the wake of LeBron James's return to Cleveland and Kevin Love's trade request from Minnesota, as the trio teamed up to start a new "Big Three" in Cleveland. After a shaky start to the season, where they fell to a 5–7 record after a November 22 loss to Toronto, the Cavaliers went on an eight-game winning streak, where Irving averaged 19.3 points per game, including a 37-point game against the New York Knicks on December 4.
After their streak-ending loss on December 11 to Oklahoma City, the Cavaliers went on to win just five more games in December, finishing 2014 at 18–14. All of the new Big Three missed time during December, contributing to the team's inconsistency and mediocre play. The Cavaliers began their 2015 schedule on January 2 as they snapped a three-game losing streak with Irving's help. He scored 23 points, and with Love's 27, the Cavaliers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 91–87. The next game against Dallas two days later, was a season low for Irving, who scored just six points before leaving in the third quarter with lower back tightness; the Cavaliers lost 109–90. Irving missed the following game against Philadelphia, before returning to action on January 7 against Houston to tie a then first-half career high of 23 points. He finished the game with a then season-high 38 points, but could not lead the Cavaliers to a win as they lost 105–93, the team's seventh loss in nine games.
After a six-game losing streak between January 4 and 13 dropped the Cavaliers to 19–20, Irving and James led them on a 12-game winning streak to bring them back into contention. During the streak, Irving averaged 24.5 points per game, including a then career-high 55 points on January 28 against Portland. His 11 three-pointers in that game set a Cavaliers franchise record while his 55 points were the second-most in Cavaliers history (behind James's 56) and the most scored in a home game, as well as the most points scored in Quicken Loans Arena history. Irving's 28 first-half points also set a new career high for points in a half.
On March 12, 2015, Irving scored a career-high 57 points, including a buzzer-beating three-point shot to send the Cavaliers into overtime, in a 128–125 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. It was the most points for a player in a regular-season game against the defending champion since January 14, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain scored 62 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a loss to the Boston Celtics. The effort also surpassed the Cavaliers' franchise single-game scoring mark of 56 points, set by LeBron James against the Toronto Raptors on March 3, 2005.
Irving helped the Cavaliers win 34 of their final 43 games to finish the regular season as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 53–29 record. In his first career playoff game on April 19, Irving