Dallas Basketball

Mavericks' Kyrie Irving discusses 'bad habits' formed early in career with Cleveland

The leader that Irving has become took time to develop.
Keenan Womack|
Jun 12, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) handles the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the third quarter in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Jun 12, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) handles the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the third quarter in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

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Dallas Mavericks

Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has had plenty of missteps in his storied career, both on and off the court. Though he is a future first-ballot Hall-of-Fame inductee, a 2016 NBA Champion, a nine-time All-Star and three-time All-Pro, things weren't always this way for the former no. 1 overall pick.

The top player in his class despite playing just 11 total games at Duke his freshman season, Kyrie Irving's talent was immense, but he did not have a winning attitude yet. He said so himself in a recent live stream when discussing his time with the Cavaliers, specifically before LeBron James came back to play with the team.

“I love Cleveland, don’t get me wrong. I’m appreciative of all the things that they’ve done for me. I would’ve loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to," he admitted on a recent stream.

“I would’ve loved to develop next to some of my favorite players and some of my favorite people. Being a young player when you’re on a team that’s not winning a lot of games, it’s a lot of bad habits that form, and that’s what ended up happening to me when I was very young," he continued, discussing his weaknesses.

“I had a lot of bad habits – I was not a winner, I was not a good loser at all, I take my accountability. I had a lot of bad habits as a young player, and that came from losing games and just trying to get buckets all the time.”

It takes a lot for someone that has had as much success as Irving has to admit this kind of fault, but he does so here. During the three years before LeBron James made his way back to the Cavs, Cleveland was a perennial basement dweller in the Eastern Conference, even with the brilliance of Irving's offense driving the team.

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; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving
Feb 27, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) reacts to fans in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

Though they finally saw improvement in the team's third year, it was incredibly gradual, and not indicative of the success they would soon experience. Cleveland won 21 games out of 66 in a lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, 24 games out of 82 in 2012-2013, and 33 in 2013-14. James brought not only his talents to Cleveland, but a culture of winning that rubbed off on Irving, something that the veteran guard holds onto to this day.

They would lose in the NBA Finals in 2015, 4-2 to the Warriors, before enacting revenge the following summer in a thrilling Game 7 win in Golden State on the back of a Kyrie Irving three in the waning moments.

Despite some non-legal controversies that may have marred his career at times, Irving has become one of the most influential players in the last 15 years, and a true leader in a Dallas locker room that badly needed one in the midst of the Luka Doncic trade. It's clear he credits LeBron James with part of his maturation process.

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Keenan Womack
KEENAN WOMACK

Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.

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