CLEVELAND — Kyrie Irving said his latest return to Cleveland began Friday, when the Dallas Mavericks landed and went to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ practice facility. After Saturday night’s 127-117 loss, the 34-year-old guard spent much of his postgame availability on his first years with the franchise.
Cleveland drafted Irving first overall out of Duke in 2011, when he was 19. The NBA lockout pushed the start of his rookie season to December, and he was named Rookie of the Year that spring. Irving spent six seasons with the Cavaliers, won the 2016 championship, and was traded to Boston in 2017.
Saturday was the second of three 10th Anniversary Celebration games the Cavaliers scheduled to mark that title. Irving scored 34 points on 11-of-25 shooting, including 7-of-16 from three. Irving missed all of last season, including Dallas’ March 15 win in Cleveland, while recovering from a torn ACL.
Kyrie Irving On His Start In Cleveland
Irving’s first months as a Cavalier came during the lockout. He said he spent them back at school, healing from the toe injury he had at Duke, without any contact with Cleveland’s general manager or head coach.
“Yeah, no, I think it started yesterday when we landed and went to the practice facility. I know they have a new practice facility being built. So congrats to them,” Irving said. “I know they’ll enjoy it, but when I first started here, getting drafted at 19, I didn’t know what to expect. I think I was just excited to play basketball again, and then the lockout hits, and then I’m out of work for about six months, not getting paid from any other entity other than Nike at the time.”
“But just going back to school and having time to heal from my toe injury, and Chris Grant was our GM at the time. Byron Scott was the head coach, and we weren’t allowed to even communicate with them,” Irving continued. “So my first entry into here was just a little awkward. We started in December, and I think since then it’s been a whirlwind of a, a lot of ups, a lot of lessons. A lot of figuring out who I wanted to become as a person, most importantly, but also as a player.”
Cleveland went 21-45 in Irving’s rookie season and did not reach the playoffs in any of his first three. The Cavaliers made the NBA Finals in each of the next three seasons after LeBron James returned in 2014.
Irving Says Early Criticism Was Fair
Irving said the knock on his first three seasons, that he had not won anything on his own, was fair. He said those years taught him not to hide from criticism.
“Everybody, I don’t want to say everybody, but when they were discussing my career, everybody likes to gear towards my first three years in the league, and like to put, he’s not a winner. He didn’t win anything. He didn’t do anything without Bron,” Irving explained. “He didn’t do anything without the players that we ended up winning a championship with, which I think is all in good, fair criticism.”
“But I think as I look at it, it was just me learning through just being a young player in the league. I needed some veterans around me. I needed some good pieces. I needed to be battle tested, and I feel like that’s what prepared me for these moments I’m in right now,” Irving continued. “Just going through different seasons, ups and downs, and being able to stay resilient and stay positive through it, and also call out things that are right in front of you. Don’t try to hide away from criticism. Don’t try to run away from it.”
“I think that’s what I was learning when I came into the league, is the media or everybody else expecting you to be a number one pick or to be a contributor to a winning franchise or to a franchise and contribute to winning,” Irving added. “So it’s just a lot of figuring out, but I give myself a lot of grace. Really proud of myself, and really proud of the guys that influenced my career positively while I was here. From the front office to the medical staff to strength and conditioning to our coaches to my teammates, like everybody had a positive impact on my career in some way or another.”
The Mavericks fell to 7-6 with the loss. Dallas plays the Boston Celtics on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT at TD Garden.
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