NBA: 10 players looking to shed injury-prone label in 2018-19

3. Kyrie Irving, Boston Celtics

Kyrie Irving hasn’t sustained any career-altering injuries, and the highest amount of games he’s missed in his seven-year career is 31 (back in his rookie season). However, because of the sheer volume of injuries he’s sustained, and how many injuries he’s sustained, there’s more pressure on him than usual entering the 2018-19 campaign.

The reason for that is two-fold: With LeBron James leaving the East, the time is now for Kyrie and the Boston Celtics to rise to the top of the conference and make an NBA Finals appearance. There’s also the increased desire to return to that stage after Irving missed 22 games and sat out for the entire playoffs with a knee injury last year.

This was just the latest setback. Irving has only reached the 70-game threshold in three of his seven seasons, but other than that, has generally veered more toward 60-game territory.

Having to watch his team claw its way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, without him and Gordon Hayward on the floor, probably only made that competitive fire grow stronger. Given the myriad of injuries Irving’s dealt with in his career, not to mention his (likely) status as an unrestricted free agent this summer, there’s an inordinate amount of pressure for the All-Star point guard to prove himself as the best player on a legitimate title contender.