Sport: Basketball
Born: March 23, 1992
Town: West Orange, New Jersey
Kyrie Andrew Irving was born March 23, 1992 in Melbourne, Australia and grew up in West Orange, NJ. His father, Drederick, was a college player at Boston University and was playing Downunder for the Bulleen Bombers when Kyrie was born. The Irvings moved to New Jersey when he was a toddler. When Kyrie was four, his mother passed away and he was raised by his father and aunts.
Drederick continued to play organized basketball into his 30s and taught his son the ins and outs of the game. Kyrie became a lightning-quick guard, sharpening his game in AAU ball while playing for Montclair Kimberley Academy as a freshman and sophomore. MKA won the state title in his second season with the Cougars.
Kyrie transferred to St. Patrick High in Elizabeth his junior year, joining Michael Kidd-Gilchrist on one of the top prep programs in the state. The Fighting Celtics won the state title in 2009. During his time at St. Patrick, Kyrie was selected for numerous all-star teams and tournaments. He led Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championships.
Kyrie was ranked the #1 prep point guard in the nation. In the fall of his senior year, he committed to Duke University. He appeared to be on his way to Freshman of the Year honors in 2010–11 when he injured a ligament in his right big toe in just his ninth college game. He was averaging 17 points and 4 assists per contest at the time. Kyrie returned in time for the NCAA Tournament, but Duke lost to Arizona in the Sweet 16. Kyrie netted 28 in the loss. As it turned out, this would be his final game for Duke. He declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft.
The Cleveland Cavaliers took Kyrie with the #1 overall pick. He averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game, won Rookie of the Year honors and was named MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge at the All-Star Game. In his second season, Kyrie was selected to play in his first NBA All-Star Game, and scored 15 points. It was the end of a busy weekend—he also won the 3-Point Shootout and scored 32 points in the Rising Stars game. Earlier in the year, Kyrie became the youngest player to score 40 points in Madison Square Garden. He finished the season averaging 22.5 points and 5.9 assists. In 2013–14, Kyrie was voted to the starting lineup of the All-Star Game. He tallied 31 points and 14 assists in a 163–155 victory for the East and was named MVP of the game. Two weeks later, he had his first triple-double. Kyrie finished his third pro season averaging 20.8 points and 6.1 assists.
The 2014–15 campaign saw the Cavaliers go for broke. Lebron James returned to Cleveland and the team acquired power forward Kevin Love for its front line. The Irving-Love-James triumvirate never entirely meshed, but Kyrie had a fabulous season. He dropped 55 points (including eleven 3’s) on Portland in a January game, and then scored 57 against the Spurs in March to break Lebron’s team record of 56. It was the most points ever scored against a defending champion by someone not named Chamberlain. Kyrie finished the season averaging 21.7 points and 5.2 assists.
The Cavs pulled together in the second half and were unstoppable as the playoffs began. Unfortunately for the team’s championship ambitions, Kyrie injured his knee in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks. He played one game in the NBA Finals against the Warriors before a fractured kneecap benched him for the series, which Golden State won in 6 games.
Off-season surgery did not have Kyrie ready for opening night in 2015–16, but he was able to rejoin the Cavaliers on December 20th. He shifted into high gear at the end of January, averaging 25 points a game during one 8-game stretch. At season’s end, Kyrie was at 19.6 ppg in 53 contests, helping the Cavs finish with the best record in the East. Cleveland swept the Pistons in the opening round of the playoffs—with Kyrie posting a pair of 31-point performances—and dropped just two games on their way to a rematch in the NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors.
This time, with a full cast, the Cavs held their own. Although they fell behind 3 games to 1, they grabbed the momentum in the series with a Game 5 victory that saw Kyire and James each score 41 points. It marked the first time teammates had topped 40 in a Finals game. Game 6, in Cleveland, went to the Cavaliers. Game 7, in Oakland, was a see-saw affair that was tied at 89–89 in the final minute. Kyrie, who was hitting jumpers and twisting drives all night, canned a fall-away 3-pointer over Steph Curry to win the game. He and fellow New Jerseyan JR Smith were NBA champions.
That summer, Kyrie was part of the US national team that won a gold medal in the Olympics. He joined James, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen s the only players to win an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year.
The Cavs returned to the NBA Finals in 2016–17 behind Kyrie’s best season as a pro. He topped 40 points on several occasions, including 42 against the Celtics in the playoffs and 40 against the Warriors in the Finals, which Cleveland lost, 4 games to 1. After the season, Kyrie expressed an interest in getting out from under LeBron’s shadow. The Cavs accommodated him with a trade to those same Celtics.
Kyrie began pouring in points from the start for Boston and led the Celtics on an epic 16-game winning streak early in the season. In a November comeback win against the Mavs, he netted 47 points. Boston fans were thinking about a deep playoff run, but their hopes effectively ended when Kyrie underwent knee surgery after 60 games and was ruled out for the year. He had been averaging 24.1 points per game and was shooting a career-best 49.1% from the field.
That summer, the film Uncle Drew was released. Kyrie played the title role of an over-the-hill baller who pulls together a group of old-timers to win the Rucker Classic. The movie co-starred Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson and Lisa Leslie and immediately took its place among the best basketball movies of all-time (the bar, regrettably, being fairly low). Kyrie’s wrinkled, gray-haired character originally debuted in a series of Pepsi Max commercials in 2012.
Kyrie was good to go in 2018–19 and put up good numbers again in helping the Celtics fashion a 49–33 record. Boston swept Indiana in the opening round of the playoffs, but stumbled against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the second round. Boston opened the series with a road win and Kyrie led all scorers with 26 to go with 11 steals. But Milwaukee ran the table and swept the final four games, sending the Celts home early.
That summer, Kyrie decided to test out free agency and signed with the Brooklyn Nets. In his 2019–20 debut, he torched Minnesota for 50 points in an overtime victory. It marked the first time in league history a player hit for 50 in his first game with a new team. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury sent Kyrie to the bench for more than 20 games. The Nets played well in his absence, and Kyrie picked up where he left off when he returned to the club in January—including a 54-point performance against the Bulls. The shoulder began bothering him again, however, and the Nets announced he would undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the season. He had played only 20 games, but had set new career bests with 27. 4 points and 5.2 rebound per game. He also shot 92.2% from the free throw line, which would have placed him second in the NBA.
In the COVID-shortened 2020–21 season, Kyrie was an All-Star for the seventh time and joined the elite “50-40-90 Club”—shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point territory and 90 percent from the free-throw line. Only eight other players were in the club. The Nets finished 48–24 and beat the Celtics in the opening round of the playoffs. Next, they faced Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks. The Nets too the first two games but lost the series in seven. Kyrie injured his ankle in Game 4 and missed the rest of the series.
In 2021–22, Kyrie found himself at the center of a COVID-19 controversy. Because he refused to get vaccinated, New York City law said he could not practice or play with the team in Brooklyn. He played exclusively in away games for the Nets, but played well. In a pair of March games, he scored 50 against the Hornets in Charlotte and 60 against the Magic in Orlando to establish a new team record. The Nets were swept in the playoffs by the Celtics and Kyrie was fined for flipping the bird to Boston fans in Game 1.