Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Andrew Irving (, ; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Irving was born in Melbourne, Australia, on March 23, 1992; the son of Drederick Irving and Elizabeth (née Larson) Irving, American expatriates.

He has an older sister, Asia, and a younger sister, London.

His father, Drederick, played college basketball at Boston University alongside Shawn Teague (father of Jeff and Marquis Teague).

After completing his college career, Irving's father moved to Australia to play professionally for the Bulleen Boomers in the SEABL.

Irving and his family lived in the Melbourne suburb of Kew before relocating to the United States when he was two years old.

He holds dual American and Australian citizenship.

Although he was born left-handed, Irving was discouraged from using his left hand while he studied in a Catholic school in 1996.

His mother, who was African American and Lakota, died of an illness when he was four, and Drederick raised him along with the help of Irving's aunts.

In 2004, Irving's father remarried, to Shetellia Riley, who as of March 2022 is Kyrie Irving's agent.

Irving is a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Irving grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, where he frequently attended his father's adult-league games.

His inspiration to play in the NBA came after playing at Continental Airlines Arena during a school trip in fourth grade, when he declared, "I will play in the NBA, I promise."

Due to his father's connection to Boston University, Irving spent a lot of time in Boston, including at BU's basketball skills camp.

Irving said that in fifth grade, he was offered a scholarship to Boston University by then-head coach Dennis Wolff.

As a teenager, Irving played for the Road Runners of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).

Irving played for Montclair Kimberley Academy in his freshman and sophomore years in high school.

He averaged 26.5 points, 10.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.6 steals and became only the second 1,000 point scorer in the school's history.

In his sophomore year, he led MKA to its first New Jersey Prep 'B' state title.

After that year, he transferred to St. Patrick High School because he felt he needed a bigger challenge.

He had to sit out the first 30 days of St. Patrick's season due to the transfer.

He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft.

Irving played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils before joining the Cavaliers in 2011.

At St. Patrick, Irving played with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who was widely regarded as one of the best players in the class of 2011.

In his first season, Irving averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game, and led the team to its third New Jersey Tournament of Champions title in four years.

He has starred as himself in Kickin' It (2012) and has done voicework in We Bare Bears (2016) and Family Guy (2018).

He won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the 2014 All-Star Game.

He has also played for the United States national team, with which he won gold at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

An eight-time All-Star and three-time member of the All-NBA Team, he won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.

Irving is widely considered one of the best ball handlers of all time.

In the 2016 NBA Finals, Irving made the championship-winning three-point field goal to complete the Cavaliers' historic comeback over the Golden State Warriors.

After another Finals appearance in 2017, Irving requested a trade and was dealt to the Boston Celtics.

He has written, directed, and acted in a number of advertisements as "Uncle Drew", which became a feature film in 2018.

He played with the Celtics for two seasons, after which he signed with the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent in 2019.

After four seasons with the Nets, Irving requested a trade and was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in 2023.

In February 2020, he was elected as one of the seven vice-presidents of the National Basketball Players Association, replacing Pau Gasol.

Irving's decision not to get vaccinated for COVID-19 led to him missing the majority of the 2021–2022 NBA season.

Throughout his career, Irving has promoted numerous conspiracy theories.

Some of these conspiracies, including tweeting a link to the movie Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, have been characterized as antisemitic.

For a time prior, Irving promoted a theory that the Earth is flat, which he later recanted.