2014 has been a good year for Kyrie Irving.
After being named MVP of the NBA All-Star Game last season and leading Team USA to the gold medal at the FIBA World Cup in September en route to MVP honors, the dynamic point guard was named the USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year Sunday.
In nine games, Irving scored in double figures six times and was extremely efficient with his shots, putting up his numbers on 56.3 percent shooting, including 60.9 percent from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers star saved his best games for the end of the tournament, scoring 18 points and adding six assists in the semifinals against Lithuania before catching fire from long range to pour in 26 points in the final against Serbia.
According to the USA Basketball press release, Irving had some strong sentiments about his memorable summer.
“It’s truly an honor and a blessing to be among such a great lineage of award winners, and USA Basketball was the best experience of my life thus far, just being a part of a team that’s bigger than myself. The sacrifice we all had to make in order to make that team work and the adversity that we faced – and we came home with a gold medal. We were together through it all, and we won a gold medal together, so I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life.”
The USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year Award has been in existence since 1980 to honor an amateur or senior level player that made the biggest impact on any of the many international competitions.
Four other Duke players have been given the award at some point in their careers—Jabari Parker (2011), Chris Duhon (2001), Elton Brand (1998) and Christian Laettner (1991).
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski was also honored as a USA Basketball co-National Coach of the Year after leading the team to gold yet again this summer and gave his thoughts on Irving's summer performance in the press release.
“I think Kyrie came of age. He’s a terrific player, but he became a great player during the summer of 2014. I think sometimes to become that great player, you need a stage to do it on, and the stage was the World Cup. He performed his best on that stage, and now that’s the level he is expected to play at. I’m really proud of him.”
Irving has been extremely busy lately, as he recently launched his new Nike shoe—which is set to hit stores Tuesday—and made time to visit Duke Thursday after its win against Connecticut in East Rutherford, N.J., in addition to starring for the Cavaliers.
The 6-foot-3 is quickly establishing himself as an elite point guard and player and as long as he stays healthy, should have time to bolster his already strong resume in this year's NBA playoffs.
Keep up with the Blue Zone for all of your Duke basketball news, including recruiting and NBA updates.
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