Kyrie Irving is the most promising young up and comer in the league. However, the kid can't stay on the court. For every accolade Irving has garnered in his first two seasons, he has a broken bone, sprain and bruise to match. According to Cleveland.com, Irving has another injury to rehabilitate and an early beginning to his offseason.
Irving could miss the next month — and maybe the rest of this season — with a sprained left shoulder, the latest injury to sideline the Cavaliers' All-Star guard who has missed 29 games in his first two NBA seasons with injuries and could sit out 19 more in 2013.
Irving got hurt in a loss at Toronto on Sunday night, when he collided with Raptors rookie forward Jonas Valanciunas while trying to drive the baseline in the third quarter. Irving slammed his shoulder into the 257-pound Valanciunas and was knocked out of bounds.
He also has more cast signatures than he's signed for fans this season.
Shadow League Editor Khalid Salaam has noted Kyrie's uniqueness as a hood superstar with an upper-class come up, however, Irving shares more in common with hood Jordan, Allen Iverson. While Irving isn't as much of a chucker as Iverson, both are scoring guards with crossovers that sends defenders skating like Disney On Ice. Although he's slightly taller reincarnation, Irving is just as fearless scoring at the rim. However, he may be too fearless. Just days ago, the Cavs had to shoot down speculation that they were shutting down Irving for the season because of concerns over his lingering knee injury.
Kyrie doesn't have any chronic injuries but the frequency at which his name shows up on the injury list suggests his playing style may need to be altered slightly. This injury is a prime example. Durable guards don't go looking for contact with 250-pound defenders. He's got to be a little bit more prudent in his excursions into the lane. He's not yet 21 and already his coaches and teammates are having to answer for his durability.
"He still is very young. His body hasn't fully developed. I'm just not that concerned about it, to be honest with you," Scott said. "All the injuries that he has gotten have been legitimate injuries. It's not something that keeps recurring over and over again."
There's some merit behind the concerns. As a freshman at Duke, Irving played just nine games before a foot injury forced him to sit for the season. Last summer, Irving broke his hand and missed the start of the season while rehabbing a broken index finger. Likewise, Iverson was praised for his toughness and ability to play through injury after injury, which later hampered his career. Looks, like they have more in common than we thought. Watch out A.I., Prince Kyrie is coming for that injury-riddled throne.
