Who Is Kyrie Irving?
Born in 1992 in Melbourne, Australia, Kyrie Irving became a high school basketball star in New Jersey before briefly playing for Duke University. He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, and in 2016, he teamed with to give the Cavaliers their first championship in franchise history. Along with his dazzling scoring ability, Irving is known for his "Uncle Drew" commercials and his controversial comments about the Earth being flat. After six years in Cleveland, Irving moved on to the Boston Celtics in 2017 and then the Brooklyn Nets in 2019.
Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics looks on prior to the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on October 6, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Joining the Brooklyn Nets
At the beginning of the summer 2019 NBA free agency period, it was announced that Irving had signed a four-year, $142 million deal to play for the New Jersey Nets. With fellow top free agent also coming to Brooklyn (but likely to miss the 2019-20 season to injury), it was expected the two All-Stars would transform the Nets into one of the league's premier teams.
Boston Celtics
After six seasons, four All-Star appearances and an NBA championship as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving embarked on the next phase of his career with the Boston Celtics in 2017.
Things got off to a less-than-ideal start: On October 17, five minutes into the season opener, fellow Celtics newcomer Gordon Hayward went down with a fractured tibia. On November 11, Irving suffered a minor facial fracture, and he returned to action a few days later wearing a stifling mask.
Despite the setbacks, the Celtics ripped off a 16-game win streak from late October to just before Thanksgiving. With Irving showcasing his clutch scoring ability, along with a commitment to playing energetic defense under coach Brad Stevens, the Celtics became a favorite to win the NBA's Eastern Conference. However, Irving underwent season-ending knee surgery in late March 2018, and the Celtics were defeated in the conference finals by the Cavaliers.
While Irving was able to return for the 2017-18 NBA season opener, the Celtics struggled to live up to the high expectations. Furthermore, Irving found himself under scrutiny for publicly criticizing his teammates and for seemingly cooling to the idea of re-signing with Celtics after the season, which ended with a disappointing five-game loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of the NBA playoffs.
Kyrie Irving's Stats
Nominally a point guard, the 6'3" Irving scores well more than the "pass first"-type players who traditionally man the position. He averaged an impressive 25.2 points per game during the 2016-17 NBA season, and 21.6 points per game overall during his six seasons with the Cavaliers. He set a career high with 57 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs in March 2015.
Irving averaged a middling 5.5 assists per game with the Cavaliers, though he produced a career-high 6.9 per game in that category during the 2018-19 season, buoyed by a personal best 18 assists vs. the Toronto Raptors in January. A few days later, he set another personal mark with eight steals vs. the Miami Heat.
An excellent free-throw shooter, Irving converted 87.3 percent of his attempts with the Cavaliers. He made a solid 38.3 percent of his attempts from three-point range during those years, including a career-best 41.5 percent in 2014-15.
Shoes and 'Uncle Drew'
Already an All-Star by the time he entered his fourth NBA season, Irving reached another plateau when he was given his own Nike signature shoe, the Kyrie 1, in December 2014.
