Kyrie Irving: Injuries Could Derail Career

By Joshua Howe | Jul 30, 2015

June 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) during overtime in game one of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 108-100 in overtime for a 1-0 series lead. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The list is long: Greg Oden, Pete Maravich, Amar’e Stoudemire, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Allan Houston, Penny Hardaway. Knee and foot injuries can derail great NBA careers in the blink of an eye.

It makes sense then, that we should probably worry at least a little for Kyrie Irving. The explosive young guard is only 23 and he’s a rising star. This past season was the best of his short career in the league, and he averaged 21.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals on 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 41.5 percent shooting from deep.

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The kid’s talent is undeniable. He can shoot the lights out; all he needs to see is one of his shots go in and then BOOM it’s over. The Spurs found that out the hard way.

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Not only can Kyridiculous shoot the ball akin to a Stephen Curry, but he just might be the best finishing-at-the-rim point guard in the game today. When shooting 0-3 feet from the basket (so, essentially, layups), Kyrie made 61.1 percent of his attempts last season. When you consider that he takes 27.3 percent of his total attempts from that spot, the feat is even more impressive.

At 6’3”, Irving is electric. His first step is as good as anyone’s and his ability to contort his body after he’s left the floor is reminiscent of pre-injuries Derrick Rose. But because of his reckless play style when driving to the hoop, and because of his size (he weighs 193 pounds), Kyrie takes a load of punishment in the interior.

In a somewhat disturbing fashion, Kyrie falls to the floor after vicious drives like a young Dwyane Wade once did. It doesn’t seem to affect him. He continues to put his head down and bowl into the paint like a mini bull, somehow finding a way to finish between the bumps and bruises sustained from the looming defense.

Then he just pops back onto his feet, high-fives his teammates and heads to the free throw line. Like it’s nothing. Like he could do this forever.

But he can’t.

Reality began setting in this season, though it wasn’t the first time Kyrie’s dealt with injuries. Back when he played for Duke, Irving lasted only through the first eight games of the season before going down with a severe ligament injury in his right big toe. He didn’t play until March, where he did help his club get to the Sweet 16 before losing to Arizona.

His injury troubles in college frightened a lot of Cleveland Cavaliers fans when the franchise decided to take him first overall back in the 2011 draft.

While Kyrie became an instant success in the NBA, his injury troubles didn’t exactly recede. He played just 51 games in his first season with the Cavs, and then 59 the next. He got through 71 games and 75 games over the last two seasons, respectively, but then this past postseason happened.

In 2014, an article on Bleacher Report stated that “Irving’s injury history would be concerning for a 35-year-old. It’s nothing short of terrifying for a 21-year-old less than four seasons removed from his high school graduation.”

It’s true, and the issues are many. Kyrie hasn’t had simply one reoccurring ailment, but a list that points out nearly every spot on the human body, including: a sprained right shoulder, sprained left shoulder, broken hand, broken finger, fractured jaw, right nasal fracture, hyperextended knee, bruised knee and a concussion.

For a while, the 2014-15 season looked like it was going to shove all of that red-flag history in the past for good. Kyrie had a spectacular year, learned a lot from his new teammate LeBron James and excelled in nearly every facet of the game.

And then …

Kyrie and the Cavs stepped into the playoffs. After what would’ve been a great start if Kevin Love hadn’t sustained a season-ending shoulder injury, Cleveland still managed to dispose of the Celtics in four games.

Kyrie was huge in that series (his first playoff appearance), averaging 23.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.0 steal on 43.4 percent shooting from the floor and 48.0 percent shooting from downtown.

Next up was Chicago, and that’s where things began going downhill at an unstoppable pace. Coach David Blatt revealed after Game 3 of that series that Kyrie had been playing on a sore foot ever since Game 2 of the first round against Boston.

No kidding. Irving did manage to play in all six of the games against the Bulls, but his time on the floor resulted in little production. In the closeout Game 6, he only managed to drain two shots in 12 minutes before stepping on a teammate’s foot and re-aggravating his knee.

After that point, his playing time became limited and LeBron James went on ahead alone to take on the 60-win Atlanta Hawks. Kyrie played in only two games of that series (which was a sweep), though he might as well have rested since he was still unable to guard anyone or move properly.

The Cavs had a significant amount of time between the Eastern Conference Finals and The Finals with their quick dispatch of the Hawks, and many hoped that Irving would be feeling better and ready to go once the big lights turned on.

Unfortunately, Kyrie only got to play in Game 1 of The Finals. He left everything on the floor over his 43 minutes of play time, and he even made a spectacular block on Steph Curry to save the game.

Then what had been happening all playoffs culminated in one final injury, and Kyrie had to leave the floor to head back to the locker room for what felt like the six billionth time in just a few weeks. Soon after it was revealed that he’d fractured his left kneecap, would require surgery and that he would no longer be able to play in The Finals.

Without him, the Cavs went on to lose the series 4-2 despite an otherworldly effort by LeBron.

And now, here we are, a little over a month removed from the 2014-15 NBA basketball season. Irving is on the mend and recently made the statement that if the Cavs had been healthy, they would’ve won the series against Golden State.

The keyword, of course, is “if.” That word has held on tightly to Kyrie’s professional career thus far and doesn’t look to be letting go anytime soon. Will he become one of the top players in the league? Will he win a title with James? Will he keep improving his already-crazy shooting?

If. If he stays healthy. If.

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