Kyrie Andrew Irving ( KY-ree; Lakota: Ȟéla, lit. 'Little Mountain'; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). 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. A nine-time All-Star and three-time member of the All-NBA Team, Irving won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.
Irving played one year of college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils before joining the Cavaliers in 2011. He won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the 2014 All-Star Game. In the 2016 NBA Finals, Irving made the championship-winning three-pointer 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 played with the Celtics for two seasons, after which Irving signed with the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent in 2019. After four seasons with the Nets, he requested a trade and was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in 2023, with whom Irving reached his fourth NBA Finals in 2024. He has also played for the United States national team, with which Irving won gold at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. 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 film Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America (2018), have been characterized as antisemitic. For a time prior, Irving promoted a theory that the Earth is flat, which he later recanted.
Irving has written, directed, and acted in a number of advertisements as "Uncle Drew", which became a feature film in 2018. He has starred as himself in Kickin' It (2012) and has done voicework in We Bare Bears (2016) and Family Guy (2018).
Contents
Early life
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 half-sister, London. 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 South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). Irving and his family lived in the Melbourne suburb of Kew before relocating to the United States when he was two years old. Irving holds dual American and Australian citizenship. Kyrie is ambidextrous.
Irving's mother, who was African American and Lakota, died of an illness when he was four, and Drederick raised Irving along with the help of Irving's aunts. In 2004, Drederick remarried to Shetellia Riley, who is currently Kyrie Irving's agent.
Irving grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, where he frequently attended his father's adult-league games. Irving's 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 the 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).
High school career
Irving played for Montclair Kimberley Academy during his freshman and sophomore years in high school. Irving 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, Irving led MKA to its first New Jersey Prep 'B' state title. After that year, he transferred to St. Patrick High School but had to sit out the first 30 days of the season due to the transfer. 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. In August 2009, he led the USA East to the tournament title in the Nike Global Challenge. Irving was the MVP with 21.3 points and 4.3 assists per game. The next year, St. Patrick was banned from the state tournament for holding practice prior to the permitted start of the winter sports season. St. Patrick went 24–3 and won the Union County Tournament championship as Irving finished his senior year with 24.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game.
On January 19, 2010, Irving was selected to the 2010 Junior National Select Team. The team played at the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon, on April 10. He was also selected to play in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game and the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic, where Irving was named co-MVP with Harrison Barnes. In June 2010, Irving was a part of the United States gold medal-winning team at the FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship.
College career
Irving committed to Duke on October 22, 2009, in a television broadcast on ESPNU. He played with the Blue Devils during the 2010–2011 basketball season under the guidance of head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Through the first eight games of the season, Irving averaged 17.4 points per game on 53.2% shooting, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals.
Irving was a strong contender for NCAA Freshman of the Year until suffering an injury to his right big toe during the ninth game of the season. On March 17, the day before Duke played Hampton in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Irving returned for his first game since his injury.
Duke advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament but fell to Arizona. Irving scored 28 points in what turned out to be his last game for Duke.
Professional career
Cleveland Cavaliers (2011–2017)
Irving announced that he would forgo his final three seasons of eligibility and enter the 2011 NBA draft, where Irving was selected with the first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was named to the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge, where he played for Team Chuck. Irving scored 34 points in the game, going 8-of-8 from three-point range, and earned MVP honors. He also won the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year Award with 117 of a possible 120 first-place votes. Irving was the only unanimous selection to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. For the season, he averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and shot 46.9% from the field, including 39.9% on three-pointers.
While practicing with the Cavaliers in the NBA Summer League on July 14, 2012, Irving sustained a broken right hand after reportedly slapping it against a padded wall after committing a turnover. "I am a little disappointed," he said. "I have to be more responsible about my health. It was just crazy. It happened so fast." Four days later, it was announced that Irving would require hand surgery.
At the start of the 2012–2013 NBA season, Irving injured his index finger in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He played in the Cavaliers' next game, but the injury forced Irving to miss three weeks of action. In his second game back, while donning a black protective face mask to protect a broken bone he suffered against Milwaukee, Irving scored his then-career-high 41 points against the New York Knicks. He became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40 points in Madison Square Garden; Irving was a year younger than Michael Jordan, who did it in 1985.
The coaches selected Irving to play in his first All-Star game. Irving finished with 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds. He also participated in the Rising Stars Challenge again, scoring 32 points for Team Shaq in a losing effort. Irving participated in the Three-Point Contest and recorded 23 points in the final round to win the event. He ended his second season with averages of 22.5 points, 5.9 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
Fans chose Irving to be the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the 2014 NBA All-Star game. He was the All-Star game MVP, recording 31 points and 14 assists as the East beat the West 163–155.
Boston Celtics (2017–2019)
In July 2017, Irving requested the Cavaliers to trade him, reportedly wanting to be more of the focal point of his own team instead of continuing to play alongside LeBron James. The following month, on August 22, he was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Žižić, and the rights to the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round draft pick (that ultimately turned into Collin Sexton). Eight days later, the Celtics agreed to send the Cavaliers a 2020 second-round draft pick via the Miami Heat to complete the trade, as compensation for Thomas' failed physical.
In his debut for the Celtics in their season opener against the Cavaliers on October 17, 2017, Irving had 22 points and 10 assists in a 102–99 loss. He had a chance to tie it with a three-pointer at the buzzer but missed. On October 30, Irving scored 24 points for the third straight game in helping the Celtics beat the San Antonio Spurs 108–94. It was the Celtics' first victory against the Spurs since 2011. Irving's 128 points in his first six games as a Celtic were the most since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen each had 131 in 2007. On November 6, 2017, Irving scored 35 points in a 110–107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, recording his first 30-point game as a Celtic while scoring more points (245) than any player in his first 11 games with Boston. With the win over Atlanta, the Celtics improved to 9–2 with nine straight wins, setting their longest winning streak in seven years.
On November 20, 2017, Irving scored 10 of his season-high 47 points in overtime as the Celtics rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks 110–102, extending their winning streak to 16 games. The streak ended at 16 games with a loss to the Miami Heat two days later. On January 21, 2018, Irving scored 40 points in a 103–95 loss to the Orlando Magic. The Celtics had accumulated a 34–10 record by mid-January, but their loss to Orlando was their season-worst third straight defeat. On January 27, he scored 37 points on 13-for-18 shooting with five three-pointers in a 109–105 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On February 28, Irving helped the Celtics improve to 4–0 following the All-Star break with a 134–106 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Irving led Boston with 34 points, making 13 of 18 shots overall and going 4-for-6 from three-point range in the first three quarters. On March 24, he was ruled out for three to six weeks after undergoing a minimally-invasive procedure to remove a tension wire in his left knee. Less than two weeks later, Irving was ruled out for the entire postseason, with a recovery time of four to five months, after another procedure was scheduled to remove two screws from his patella that were inserted in 2015 to repair a fracture he suffered during that year's NBA Finals. Without Irving, Boston would reach the Conference Finals, before losing to his former team, the Cavaliers, in seven games.
Brooklyn Nets (2019–2023)
On July 7, 2019, Irving signed with the Brooklyn Nets in free agency on a four-year, $136.5 million contract. On October 23, 2019, he debuted for the Nets with 50 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in a 127–126 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player in NBA history to score 50 points or more in a team debut. Irving became the seventh player in franchise history to score 50 points or more in a single game, and joins Stephon Marbury (2001) as the only one to also record 15 combined rebounds and assists. Irving also scored 25 of the Nets' 56 points in the first half.
Irving missed 26 games due to a right shoulder injury, and returned on January 12, 2020, scoring 21 points on a 10-of-11 shooting in the 108–86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. On January 25, he scored 45 points, also recording six rebounds and seven assists, to lead Brooklyn to a 121–111 overtime victory over the Detroit Pistons. The next day, the Nets were scheduled to play the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, but Irving left the arena prior to tip-off upon learning of the death of Kobe Bryant. On January 31, Irving scored a season-high 54 points on 19-of-23 shooting in a 133–118 victory over the Chicago Bulls. On February 20, it was announced that he would undergo season-ending surgery on his injured shoulder.
In the Nets' season opener on December 22, Irving had 25 points, four assists, and four rebounds in a 125–99 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Three days later, he had 37 points and eight assists in a 123–95 victory over his former team, the Boston Celtics. On February 18, 2021, Irving was named an Eastern Conference starter for the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, his seventh selection. On May 6, Irving had a season-high 45 points in a 113–109 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. At the end of the regular season, he became the ninth player in NBA history to join the 50–40–90 club, representing the shooting percentages from the field (.506), the three-point line (.402), and the free throw line (.922). Irving also became only the fourth player to average over 25.0 points, while making the 50–40–90 club, the others being Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Larry Bird.
Irving sprained his right ankle after landing on Giannis Antetokounmpo's foot during Game 4 of the Conference Semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks, and missed Game 5. The Nets lost the series in seven games.
Dallas Mavericks (2023–2025)
On February 6, 2023, the Nets traded Irving, along with Markieff Morris, to the Dallas Mavericks, in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, an unprotected 2029 first-round pick, and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029. On February 8, Irving made his Mavericks debut, putting up 24 points, five rebounds, and four assists in a 110–104 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. On March 2, Irving scored 40 points on 15-of-22 shooting from the field, including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc in a 133–126 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. In the same game his teammate Luka Dončić scored 42 points and it was the first time in Dallas franchise history that two players scored 40 points in the same game. Irving was re-signed to a three-year, $126 million contract on July 7, 2023.
On January 11, 2024, Irving scored 44 points and delivered 10 assists in a 128–124 win over the New York Knicks. On March 17, Irving put up 24 points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and a game-winning left-handed floater in a 107–105 victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets. This game-winner was a record 21-foot floater, for the longest game-winning hook shot ever recorded. On April 7, Irving scored a season-high 48 points in a 147–136 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets. Irving finished the regular season just shy of a repeat of the 50–40–90 season he recorded in 2021, with a 49.7% field goal percentage, only 0.3% short of the mark, combined with qualifying 41.1% three-point and 90.5% free throw percentages.
On May 30, in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Irving scored 36 points, along with four rebounds and five assists, to help Dallas close the series with a 124–103 victory as the Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011, where they would face Irving's former team, the Boston Celtics. Outside of a 35-point outing in Game 3, Irving struggled mightily throughout the Finals, averaging just sixteen points per game in the other four matchups, as Dallas would lose in five games.
Sportswriters declared the season to be a "renaissance", "revival", and "redemption" of Irving's career, with the veteran player having performances and statistics in the highest caliber of the league once again.
On February 1, 2025, Luka Dončić was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. On February 10, Irving was named an injury replacement for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, his ninth All-Star selection. On March 3, Irving tore his ACL in the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings, ending his season, and also putting into question his availability for the 2025–26 season.
National team career
In 2012, Irving was in contention for a position on the Australian team for the 2012 Olympics. However, he elected not to represent his nation of birth, instead focusing on selection for the United States national team for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Irving was a member of the United States national team that competed in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He helped lead Team USA to the gold medal and was subsequently named the tournament's MVP. Irving started all nine games in the tournament, averaging 12.1 points and 3.6 assists per game, including 26 points scored in the gold-medal game. He was then named the 2014 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.
In 2016, Irving helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. With the win, he became just the fourth member of Team USA to capture the NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen. In February 2025, Irving announced his intentions to play for Australia and join the Australian Boomers for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Career statistics
Awards and honors
NBA
NBA champion: 2016
9-time NBA All-Star: 2013–2015, 2017–2019, 2021, 2023, 2025
NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2014
All-NBA Second Team: 2019
All-NBA Third Team: 2015, 2021
NBA Rookie of the Year: 2012
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2012
NBA Three-Point Contest champion: 2013
Rising Stars Challenge MVP: 2012
50–40–90 club (2021)
USA Basketball
Summer Olympics gold medal winner: 2016
FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medal winner: 2014
FIBA Basketball World Cup MVP: 2014
FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team: 2014
USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year: 2014
High school
McDonald's All-American: 2010
Nike Hoop Summit All-American: 2010
Jordan Brand High School All-American: 2010
First-team Parade All-American: 2010
Acting roles
In 2012, Irving played the role of Uncle Drew in a series of Pepsi Max advertisements. He wrote and directed episode 2, in which Irving starred alongside Bill Russell and Kevin Love, and episode 3, in which he starred alongside Nate Robinson and Maya Moore. Irving also wrote and directed episode 4 of "Uncle Drew", which was released in November 2015, and in which he starred in alongside Baron Davis, J. B. Smoove, and Ray Allen. In 2017, the Uncle Drew advertisement series became a skit inside an old school diner featuring Pepsi in its current design, stored in a fridge with its original logo. Irving has also starred as the character in a feature film, Uncle Drew, which also features former NBA stars, and was released in June 2018.
Irving appeared on an episode of the Disney XD series Kickin' It in 2012, and guest starred on Family Guy, lending his voice for the season 17 (2018) episode "Big Trouble in Little Quahog".
Business ventures
Irving's shoe deal with Nike was worth US$11 million, as of 2019. His signature sneakers were the second best-selling line of 2017, behind LeBron James. The NPD Group no longer tracks signature sneakers but projected that the trend continued into 2018. Irving's themed sneaker collaborations include that of the television shows Friends and SpongeBob SquarePants. The latter collection sold out immediately.
In September 2023, Irving announced a new partnership with Chinese sports brand Anta Sports. A namesake sneaker was announced for the 2023–2024 NBA season alongside a business collaboration that saw Irving join the company as Chief Creative Officer of Anta Basketball. They will also launch a series of Anta x Kyrie Youth Basketball Camps around the world.
In December 2023, Irving made an investment in sneaker platform Kicks Crew and joined the company as Chief Community Officer. His role is expected to focus on cause-driven projects aimed at bringing communities together in collaborations that blend art and basketball and to extend globally.
Personal life
Irving has stated that he is a Muslim. He also tweeted about being omnist. Irving has publicly fasted for Ramadan and has been seen praying at Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving, Texas.
Irving enjoys reading and has a journal. He also likes to sing, dance, and play the baritone sax. Irving's godfather is former NBA player Rod Strickland. Irving and his ex-girlfriend have a daughter.
Former Orlando Magic player Isaiah Briscoe is a third cousin of Irving.
In May 2011, Irving made a promise to his father to finish his bachelor's degree at Duke within five years. However, in 2016, having not achieved his degree, Irving claimed he was putting his plans on hold, stating, "when I leave the game of basketball, then I'll focus on the next step of my life." In 2015, Irving launched his PSD Underwear collection.
Irving has been with Marlene Wilkerson since 2018 and they have two sons together.
In August 2018, Irving and his older sister were honored with a "welcome home" ceremony at Standing Rock Indian Reservation, acknowledging their family ties to the community, and in gratitude for Irving's activism on behalf of the water protectors at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. His mother was known to the tribe, though she was "adopted out" at a young age, and their late grandmother and great-grandparents also had ties to the reservation community. Since then, Irving has continued to honor his Lakota heritage through donations to the tribe, designing Nike shoes dedicated to the Lakota people, as well as burning sage before every game. In 2021, Irving's petition for citizenship was granted and he became an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Starting with the 2016–2017 season, Irving moved to a predominantly plant-based diet, which he also referenced in a December 2017 Nike ad. Since then, Irving has moved to a 100% plant-based diet.
Activism
In November 2016, Irving tweeted his support for the water protectors at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation who were demonstrating against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.
Irving has donated to various social causes through his K.A.I. Family Foundation. In 2020, he donated a home to the family of George Floyd. Irving paid off student debt for students from Lincoln University. He committed $1.5 million to help pay WNBA players who opted out of playing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Irving donated over $300,000 to food banks and with City Harvest on his birthday. He donated 17 pallets of food to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
On July 29, 2021, Irving built a solar water center in Pakistan with Paani Project through his K.A.I. Family Foundation.
Conspiracy theories
In February 2017, Irving stated in an interview for a podcast that he believes that the Earth is flat. In a later interview, Irving was less forceful in advancing his flat Earth belief, encouraging people to "do their own research" into the topic. In September 2017, Irving denied these claims and said that media misunderstood him as he was joking. However, in a June 2018 interview, when asked if he would admit that the world is round, he said, "I don't know. I really don't", and added that people should "do [their] own research for what [they] want to believe in" because "Our educational system is flawed". In October 2018, Irving apologized for his original flat Earth comments but stopped short of saying whether he still believed that the Earth is flat.
Irving also stated that he believes in other conspiracy theories, such as the idea that John F. Kennedy was killed because he wanted to end the "banking cartel."
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and his hesitancy to receive a vaccine against the virus, Irving shared and interacted with social media posts from a conspiracy theorist on Instagram, claiming that "secret societies are administering vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for a plan of Satan." Amidst these controversies, it was speculated that Irving was excluded from the NBA 75th Anniversary Team list in October 2021.
On September 15, 2022, Irving shared a video on his Instagram story featuring a rant by InfoWars creator and far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. In the 2002 video, Jones promotes the New World Order conspiracy theory and alleges that state actors are planning to oppress the public by intentionally releasing viruses. In a Substack post published on October 3, former NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar decried Irving's post, calling Jones "one of the most despicable human beings alive...to associate with him means you share his stench."
Antisemitic conspiracy theories
Irving made his first tweet espousing Black Hebrew Israelite doctrine in March 2021. Black Hebrews espouse the ideology that black people are the real Jews, wherein antisemitism is common. On October 27, 2022, Irving tweeted a link to an Amazon listing page for Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America, a 2018 film based on a book of the same name, which promotes Black Hebrew Israelite ideology. The film includes denials that the Holocaust occurred, quotes attributed to Adolf Hitler and Henry Ford, claims that Jewish people worship Satan, and accusations that Jews controlled the Atlantic slave trade and currently control the media. In a tweet on October 28, Nets owner Joseph Tsai said he was "disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of anti-semitic disinformation", and expressed his intent to address the issue further with Irving.
On October 29, 2022, Irving tweeted that deeming him antisemitic was "not justified", and that he intended to "learn from all walks of life and religions." The same day, during a postgame press availability at Barclays Center, Irving denied having any religious biases and defended the tweet, telling reporters that "[h]istory is not supposed to be hidden from anybody" and stating, "I'm not going to stand down on anything I believe in. I'm only going to get stronger because I'm not alone. I have a whole army around me." Irving deleted the tweet on or around October 30.
On October 31, during a game between the Nets and the Indiana Pacers at Barclays Center, several attendees sitting courtside wore shirts bearing the phrase "Fight Antisemitism", an apparent reference to Irving's tweet. Two days later, Irving and the Nets jointly announced they would each donate US$500,000 to organizations combating religious hatred, and would work with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to create programming related to opposing antisemitism. Though he did not apologize for promoting the film, Irving was quoted as saying that he opposes "all forms of hatred and oppression and stand[s] strong with communities that are marginalized and impacted every day"; Irving added that he "[took] responsibility" for the impact of his tweet on the Jewish community. In a subsequent statement of his own, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who is Jewish, criticized Irving for "not offer[ing] an unqualified apology" or expressly denouncing the film's content, and said he would meet with Irving "in the next week to discuss this situation."
During a press availability on November 3, Irving admitted that some of the film's content was "unfortunate" and untrue, but did not apologize for promoting the film, saying he was "not the one who made the documentary." Irving suggested that focus on his promotion of the film was unfairly diverting attention away from African-American history, declaring at one point that "300 million of [his] ancestors are buried in America"; Irving added that he would be able to debunk any criticism leveled at him because of his propensity for "study[ing]", and that he "know[s] the Oxford dictionary." Asked directly if Irving held antisemitic beliefs, he did not give a yes-or-no response, saying only, "I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from." That night, the Nets announced that they had suspended Irving without pay for at least five games, due to his "failure to disavow antisemitism when given a clear opportunity to do so" and "conduct detrimental to the team."
