Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving Named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year
By Austin Remo
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving can add to the long list of accomplishments he’s achieved throughout his young career, in particular the second half of 2014. On Sunday, the USA Basketball board of directors selected him as the sole recipient for the USAB Male Athlete of the Year Award.
The Australian-born and former Duke Blue Devil a long list of famous male athletes to be given the award, including teammate LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan.
The award was given to him just before the Cavaliers hosted the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon. Playing with an undeniable confidence, Irving went on to help lead the Cavs over the short-handed Grizz by a score of 105-91.
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It was perhaps the strongest all-around game for his Cavaliers, holding Memphis to 45 percent shooting from the floor while knocking down a ridiculous 61 percent from the field themselves.
Irving was stellar, putting up 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and tying a career-high with 12 assists.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
As far as his career accomplishments in the NBA, maybe we should be asking what he hasn’t done rather than asking what he has done.
At just 22 years old, the former first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft has a laundry list of accolades already to his name, including being the first overall pick by a rebuilding Cleveland franchise who was just burned by LeBron James the year before.
Basically given the keys to the city, Irving was marked as the face of the franchise as a 19-year-old boy. After being questioned for durability and strength, Irving became just that for the Cavs in his three years prior to the King’s return home.
He was named Rookie of the Year in 2011-12 after he averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 47% from the floor, 40% from deep and 87% from the charity stripe.
In his second year, Irving was again tasked with leading his team at the ripe age of 20 years old. He upped his scoring average to a career-high 22.5 points per game in almost 35 minutes a night. He was named to his first career All-Star Game, which would eventually come to be known as his coming out party.
Kyrie participated in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, the three-point contest, and finally the All-Star game. How did he fare against the competition?
He won the three-point contest over the likes of Stephen Curry and Steve Novak, dropped 32 points in the Rising Stars game, and 15 points in the All-Star game including three threes.
And, just in case you forgot, this play by Irving in the Rising Stars game had everyone watching pulling their jaws off the floor.
In his third season with Cleveland, he was again chosen as an Eastern Conference All-Star, the second of his career. This time, though, Kyrie was set to be the starting point guard after per game averages of 20.8 points, 6.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 35 minutes a night.
After he scored 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting and recorded 14 assists in an East victory, he was named as the MVP of the 2013-14 NBA All-Star game.
IRVING’S BIG SUMMER
Before heading into his fourth year in the league, Kyrie signed a five-year, $90 million maximum contract extension with the Cavaliers on July 10th, 2014. The deal was reportedly offered and finished within the first hour of free agency this past summer on the morning of July 1.
The day after he signed his new deal, the news broke that LeBron James was returning home to Cleveland when he signed a two-year contract worth $42 million.
He broke the news in an article published by Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated, where he specifically mentioned the young point guard in his reasons for wanting to take on the challenge of playing for the inexperienced Cavs.
If King James himself thinks he can help you become one of the best point guards in the league, you should take his word for it.
LeBron’s arrival also brought about the trade for then Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star forward Kevin Love, Irving’s friend and Pepsi Max partner for the Uncle Drew commercials.
With the added talent, and arguably the best player on the planet, the Cavaliers became title contenders over night, a drastic change of scenery for Kyrie throughout his first three years in Cleveland.
The trade took place in late August, just days before the start of the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain that Irving was set to participate in for the United States.
Team USA held training camp that featured a number of new faces on the international stage, including Irving himself. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond and Kenneth Faried were among those given the opportunity to play for their country.
But, despite the lack of international experience, Team USA went to Spain and took care of business. They dominated opponents on a nightly basis, earning double-digit victories in every single game en route to an undefeated tournament.
On a team loaded with guard power (they cut Damian Lillard and John Wall), Kyrie started all nine games at point guard, beating out Stephen Curry and Derrick Rose in the process. He averaged 12.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals in just over 24 minutes a game.
The young Americans went into Spain with questions regarding their inexperience and lack of size, but returned home with the gold medal.
Team USA trounced Serbia in the Gold Medal Game 129-92 that saw Irving score 26 points with four assists. He was a World Cup record 6-of-6 from three-point range, and was named MVP of the tournament.
Here’s what LeBron James had to say about Kyrie and his experience with Team USA, via ESPN.com:
"“I watched pretty much every game that they played this past summer and Kyrie was definitely the reason why they brought it home,” James said. “Obviously the other guys really played great as well, but Kyrie was the starter on the team.“Coach K knew why he was the starter and he just rode the hot hand,” James said of U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It’s great to have an achievement like that and he keeps racking them up.”"
As if all of this wasn’t enough for him, Kyrie Irving became Nike’s newest signature athlete when he released his first signature shoe in early December, the ‘Kyrie 1’.
He joined his teammate LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant as the only current NBA players to be endorsed by Nike with their own shoe.
All of this might look great, which it is, but I’m sure he’s only got one thing on his mind now that the Cavaliers have the talent and ability to do so, and that’s get himself an NBA title.
All stats via Basketball-Reference, USAB and NBA.com.