50 Fun Facts About Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving was born in which city, where his American father was playing professional basketball?

Melbourne was home for only two years before the family moved back to the United States. He still holds dual American and Australian citizenship.

Kyrie Irving apologized in 2018 for claiming on a podcast a year earlier that the Earth is what?

Flat was his claim about the planet in February 2017, and he later urged people to do their own research. His apology came in October 2018.

Kyrie Irving first played the elderly streetballer Uncle Drew in 2012 advertisements for which drink?

Pepsi Max launched the ads in 2012, and Irving wrote and directed later episodes himself. The character got his own feature film in 2018.

Kyrie Irving hit the go-ahead three-pointer in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals over which defender?

Stephen Curry was guarding him with 53 seconds left. The shot broke an 89–89 tie, and Cleveland held on to win 93–89.

Kyrie Irving's 2016 Cavaliers were the first team to win an NBA Finals after trailing by what margin?

3–1 down after four games, Cleveland won three straight to take the title. It ended a 52-year wait for a major championship in the city.

A toe injury limited Kyrie Irving to just 11 college games before he turned pro from which school?

Duke got him back for the NCAA tournament, and he scored 28 points in a Sweet Sixteen loss that proved to be his final college game.

Kyrie Irving left Madison Square Garden before a January 2020 game after learning of whose death?

Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash that day, and Irving left the arena before the Brooklyn Nets tipped off against the Knicks.

Weeks after winning his NBA title, Kyrie Irving won Olympic gold with Team USA in which host city?

Rio de Janeiro made him only the fourth American to win an NBA championship and Olympic gold in the same year.

Kyrie Irving and which teammate each scored 41 points in Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals?

LeBron James and Irving became the first teammates to each score 40 in a Finals game. The win kept Cleveland alive when one more loss meant the series was over.

Kyrie Irving took 117 of 120 first-place votes to win which NBA award for the 2011–12 season?

Rookie of the Year was nearly unanimous after he averaged 18.5 points for Cleveland. He was also the only unanimous pick for the All-Rookie First Team.

Which All-Star guard went to Cleveland in the August 2017 trade that sent Kyrie Irving away?

Isaiah Thomas failed his physical after the deal was agreed, so a second-round draft pick was added eight days later to complete it.

Which Hall of Fame center plays Big Fella alongside Kyrie Irving in the 2018 film Uncle Drew?

Shaquille O'Neal's Big Fella runs a martial arts dojo and holds a grudge against Drew. Chris Webber, Reggie Miller and Nate Robinson fill out the old team.

Which All-Star Saturday event did Kyrie Irving win in 2013 with 23 points in the final round?

Three-Point Contest victory came the same weekend he played in his first All-Star Game. A year earlier he went 8-for-8 from deep to win Rising Stars MVP.

Kyrie Irving joined the 50–40–90 club in 2021; the 90 is his percentage on which type of shot?

Free throws were his best mark at 92.2 percent, and he became just the ninth player in NBA history to manage the 50–40–90 feat.

Which Dallas teammate scored 42 points the night Kyrie Irving had 40 against the 76ers in March 2023?

Luka Dončić and Irving became the first Mavericks duo to each score 40 in the same game. It came less than a month after Irving arrived by trade.

Which former MVP joined Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant on the Brooklyn Nets in a January 2021 trade?

James Harden had asked Houston for the move so the three could form a superteam, and he arrived in a four-team deal.

Kyrie Irving sprained an ankle in the 2021 playoffs by landing on which Milwaukee Bucks star's foot?

Giannis Antetokounmpo's foot was under him as he came down in Game 4 of the conference semifinals. Irving missed Game 5, and Brooklyn lost the series in seven.

Kyrie Irving, whose late mother was Lakota, became an enrolled member of which tribe in 2021?

Standing Rock Sioux leaders had welcomed him home at a 2018 ceremony after he supported the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Which injury ended Kyrie Irving's 2015 NBA Finals in overtime of Game 1 against Golden State?

A fractured kneecap needed surgery and sidelined him for months. Cleveland went up 2–1 without him but lost the series in six games.

Kyrie Irving became the youngest player to score 40 at Madison Square Garden in 2012, topping whom?

Michael Jordan had done it in 1985 when he was a year older. Irving scored 41 that night while wearing a black protective mask over a broken bone.

Which brand made Kyrie Irving's signature shoes, the second best-selling signature line of 2017?

Nike's deal with him was worth $11 million as of 2019, and themed editions included one based on the sitcom Friends.

Which Chinese sportswear brand signed Kyrie Irving in 2023 as a basketball chief creative officer?

Anta announced a namesake sneaker for the 2023–24 season, along with a series of Anta x Kyrie youth basketball camps around the world.

Which coach, promoted in midseason, led Kyrie Irving's Cavaliers to the 2016 NBA title?

Tyronn Lue took over when David Blatt was fired in January 2016, then became the first coach in NBA history to win his first 10 playoff games.

Kyrie Irving scored 57 in 2015, with a buzzer-beating three to force overtime, against which team?

The San Antonio Spurs were the defending champions, and his 57 broke the Cavaliers' single-game scoring record in a 128–125 win.

Kyrie Irving scored 60 points, 41 of them before halftime, against which team in March 2022?

Orlando Magic defenders saw him hit 20 of 31 shots in a 150–108 rout. The 60 points set a Brooklyn Nets franchise record.

Which New York City mayor eased a vaccine mandate in March 2022, letting Kyrie Irving play home games?

Eric Adams had earlier refused to make an exception, saying it would send the wrong message. Until the change, the unvaccinated Irving could only play road games.

Kyrie Irving was elected in 2020 to which office in the National Basketball Players Association?

Vice president was the seat he took over from Pau Gasol, whose three-year term on the players' union executive committee had expired.

Kyrie Irving lent his voice to a 2018 episode of which long-running animated sitcom?

Family Guy featured him in its season 17 episode Big Trouble in Little Quahog. He had earlier appeared on the Disney XD series Kickin' It.

Kyrie Irving pledged $1.5 million in 2020 to players who sat out the pandemic season in which league?

WNBA players who opted out got help replacing their lost pay. The same year he donated a home to the family of George Floyd.

Which NBA legend appeared with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the second Uncle Drew commercial?

Bill Russell appeared in the second episode, which Irving wrote and directed himself. Later episodes featured Nate Robinson, Maya Moore and Ray Allen.

Although born overseas, Kyrie Irving grew up in the town of West Orange in which US state?

New Jersey is where he watched his father's adult-league games, and a fourth-grade trip to an NBA arena made him vow to reach the league.

Kyrie Irving switched to which kind of diet starting with the 2017–18 NBA season?

Plant-based eating began as a mostly meat-free switch that he mentioned in a 2017 shoe commercial. He has since cut out animal products entirely.

Kyrie Irving has said he follows which religion, praying at a center in the Texas city of Irving?

Islam is the faith he has named publicly, and he has openly fasted for Ramadan.

Kyrie Irving's Dallas Mavericks lost the 2024 NBA Finals in five games to which team?

The Boston Celtics were his former team, and outside a 35-point Game 3 he averaged just sixteen points a game in the series.

Kyrie Irving's signature sneaker collection themed on which cartoon series sold out immediately?

SpongeBob SquarePants was one of two television tie-ins for his signature line, the other being the sitcom Friends.

Kyrie Irving was picked where in the 2011 NBA draft after only one injury-hit college season?

First overall was Cleveland's choice after he gave up his final three seasons of college eligibility to enter the draft.

What does Kyrie Irving burn before games as a nod to his Native American heritage?

Sage burning is one of several ways he honors his Lakota roots, alongside donations to his mother's tribe.

Kyrie Irving scored 36 to eliminate which team in Game 5 of the 2024 Western Conference Finals?

The Minnesota Timberwolves fell 124–103 as Dallas reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011.

Which future Cavaliers champion was drafted by Cleveland three picks after Kyrie Irving in 2011?

Tristan Thompson arrived from Texas in the same first round, and five years later the two of them won the 2016 title together.

Kyrie Irving beat the defending champion Denver Nuggets in March 2024 with which game-winning shot?

A left-handed floater from 21 feet did it, and it went down as the longest game-winning hook shot ever recorded.

Which former NBA point guard from the Bronx is Kyrie Irving's godfather?

Rod Strickland played in the NBA from 1988 to 2005 and was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Which guard joined Dorian Finney-Smith in going to Brooklyn in the 2023 Kyrie Irving trade?

Spencer Dinwiddie was part of a package that also included an unprotected 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks.

Which school beat Kyrie Irving's team in the 2011 Sweet Sixteen despite his 28 points?

Arizona had Derrick Williams, who was drafted one pick after Irving that June.

The 2011 draft pick Cleveland spent on Kyrie Irving came in a trade with which team?

The Los Angeles Clippers gave up the pick along with Baron Davis in February 2011, taking back Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.

Which top recruit in the class of 2011 played alongside Kyrie Irving at St. Patrick High School?

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was a year behind him at St. Patrick and went second overall to Charlotte in the 2012 NBA draft.

Kyrie Irving scored 26 points in the 2014 FIBA World Cup final, a rout of which country?

Serbia lost by 37 points, and Irving was named the tournament's MVP after starting all nine games for Team USA.

Kyrie Irving won Rising Stars MVP in 2012 on a team picked by which TNT analyst?

Charles Barkley's side, Team Chuck, got 34 points from Irving, who made all eight of his three-point attempts.

Away from basketball, Kyrie Irving sings, dances and plays which musical instrument?

Saxophone is his instrument, specifically the baritone sax, and he also keeps a journal and enjoys reading.

Kyrie Irving's 2015 signature collection with the brand PSD was a line of what?

Underwear was the product, launched in the same year he first reached the NBA Finals with Cleveland.

Kyrie Irving reportedly broke his right hand in July 2012 by doing what after a practice turnover?

Slapping a padded wall was the reported cause, at a Summer League practice, and he needed surgery days later. He said he had to be more responsible about his health.