Kyrie Irving’s Short Bio
Kyrie Andrew Irving was born on 23 March 1992 in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Drederick and Elizabeth Irving. He grew up with two sisters, Asia and London. His father played basketball in college at Boston University and professionally for the Bulleen Boomers in Australia. He lived in the Melbourne suburbs until he was two years old when the family moved from Australia to the United States. Today, he holds dual Australian and American citizenship.
Kyrie Irving’s Career: High School, College and NBA
He grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, and used to go to his father’s adult-league games where his love for basketball began to grow. His passion for the game showed progress in his freshman and sophomore year in high school. He became the school’s second 1000-point scorer and then transferred to St. Patrick High School where he was off to a bigger challenge and led the team to its third New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in four years.
Coming out of high school, he was a five-star recruit and played one season in college at Duke University before being drafted 1st overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. On 22 October 2009, he committed to Duke University. He played with the Blue Devils during the 2010-2011 season under head coach Mike Kryzewski.
Kyrie entered the NBA Draft on June 23rd 2011 as the first overall pick and drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was named the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year after his rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. To show your appreciation for his successful beginnings, you can buy Kyrie Irving jerseys he wore during his rookie year in 2011-2012.
The same year, he was named to the Rising Stars Challenge as part of Charles Barkley’s team. In the game, Kyrie scored 34 points and earned MVP honours. In his second year in the NBA, he participated in his first All-Star game, his first 3-point contest and his second Rising Stars challenge. In the third season of his career, Kyrie was chosen to be the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference NBA All-Star game, where he had 14 assists, scored 31 points and was the All-Star MVP.
In 2015, the Cleveland Cavaliers contracted two very high-end players, LeBron James and Kevin Love and the team made it to the NBA Finals. It was Kyrie Irving’s fourth year in the league and his first appearance in the Finals, but he injured his knee cap in game 1 and the team lost to the Golden State Warriors in game 6. In his 5th year with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team was able to make it to the Finals again and bring home the championship.
The next year, 2016, the Cavaliers proceeded to make a comeback and return to the Finals, but the Golden State Warriors blew them out. In July 2017, Kyrie requested the Cavaliers to trade him as he wanted to try to lead his own team to the Finals. On 22 August 2017, he was traded to the Boston Celtics for point guard Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a first-round pick.
On 4 October 2018, Kyrie tells Boston he plans to resign with Celtics. However, on 1 February 2019 he backtracked on talk about resigning with the team as they struggled out of the gates but were still solidly a playoff team. On 8 May 2019, Boston gets eliminated from the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks. In the final game, he went 6-for-21 and it was his last game in a Celtics uniform.
On 1 July 2019, Irving teamed up with Durant and joined the Brooklyn Nets. He stayed with the team for three and a half seasons until he was moved to the Mavericks at the 2023 trade deadline. That being said, some Kyrie Irving jerseys deserve to be a part of your Boston Nets collection.
On 27 January 2022, he was named All-Star starter and received strong support from players and fan voting, even though there was a controversy surrounding him over certain activity on his social media. On 3 February 2023, Irvin requested a trade from the Nets, and two days later he was traded to the Mavericks where he still plays and makes a great dynamic duo with Luka Doncic. Though the team have lost the NBA Finals in five games at the Boston Celtics, they’ve proven capable of making it to the biggest basketball stage.
He is an eight-time All-Star, 2014 NBA All-Star MVP, a three-time member of the All-NBA Team, and won an NBA Championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a basketball enthusiast, you can proudly showcase this wearing your own Kyrie Irving jersey of the Cleveland Cavs. Also, he won a gold medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics where he was playing for the United States national team.
How Many Rings Does Kyrie Have?
Kyrie won one ring in the 2016 NBA Finals when the Cleveland Cavaliers won against the Golden State Warriors in seven games. Irving played a pivotal role in the final game, hitting a memorable clutch 3-pointer over Stephen Curry.
A Few Interesting Facts About Kyrie
- He enjoys reading, loves to sing and dance, and plays the baritone saxophone.
- His godfather is Rod Strickland, a former NBA player.
- He has a daughter named Azurie Elizabeth Irving. Her middle name was a tribute to Kyrie’s mother who died when he was 4.
- On 29 June, Uncle Drew was released in theatres, a movie based on the Pepsi Max commercials where Kyrie would put on an old man makeup and beat players at pickup games. Irving starred alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Lisa Leslie and Nate Robinson.