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Once destined for all-time greatness, Kyrie Irving’s reputation has been tainted by injuries and off-court drama. He has a chance to redeem himself.
known best for the beauty of his game, the breathtaking basketball artistry that he displays on a nightly basis as he wows fans with incredible handles, finishing, and shotmaking. He is a role model for what he can do on a basketball court, if not always in the form of winning.
Irving was drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011 and immediately burst onto the scene as one of the NBA’s best young players, averaging 18.5 points and 5.4 assists on 46.9 percent from the field and 39.9 percent from three. Early in his career, it became clear that he could score at will against any defender, all the while doing things never seen before on an NBA floor.
When Irving was joined in Cleveland by LeBron James in the summer of 2014, it instantly became clear that his skills transferred to winning at the highest level, as he was the Robin to James’ Batman on their way to three straight finals. Irving was just as spectacular as James during their legendary 2016 Finals comeback over the 73-win Golden State Warriors, often serving as the primary ballhandler for Cleveland and even hitting an iconic game-winning three over Stephen Curry in Game 7.
At age 24, he was on top of the basketball world, a newly minted champion whose game every kid wanted to emulate. Unfortunately, one year later, he was traded to the Boston Celtics and has been stunningly irrelevant in the seven years since.
Despite being in a perfect situation for his skillset as the number two next to LeBron James, competing for championships every season, Irving requested a trade in the summer of 2017. He wished to have his own team to lead, and Cleveland obliged by sending him to the up-and-coming Celtics with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward.
However, the Duke product quickly found out that leading a team isn’t as easy as it looked, and flamed out in Boston within two seasons. Irving missed the entire run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018 with injury, when the Celtics lost a home Game 7 to James’ Cavaliers. He was then healthy in 2019, but Boston lost a round earlier in five games to the Milwaukee Bucks, prompting his departure.
Irving then signed with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2019 off-season alongside Kevin Durant, who was fresh off of an achilles tear. The supremely skilled superstar duo promised to bring the Nets back to prominence once Durant was able to play again, but the reality was very different.
2020 was a lost year, as Brooklyn lost in the first-round to the Toronto Raptors, and Irving was yet again sidelined by injury for this series. Durant returned as good as new in 2021, and the Nets added James Harden early in the season, creating what seemed to be an unstoppable superteam. Unfortunately, the theme of Irving’s career continued, as both he and Harden suffered injuries in the second-round, losing to Milwaukee on Durant’s famous “toe on the line” shot.
In 2022, off-court issues forced Irving to miss 53 games, resulting in a first-round sweep at the hands of the Celtics. In 2023, Irving concluded this tumultuous run by requesting a trade from Brooklyn to the Dallas Mavericks, where he missed the playoffs in his first year. Needless to say, Irving’s reputation as a productive, winning basketball player has plummeted to rock bottom over the past seven years.
