Kyrie Irving was named the 2014 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year after leading Team USA to a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, earning tournament MVP honors along the way.
“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,” Irving said. “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.”
Irving started in all nine games in the World Cup and averaged 12.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals in 24.4 minutes per game to help lead the USA to a 9-0 record and a gold medal. The first-place finish qualified the USA for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
He also scored a game-high 26 points and record four assists while shooting 10-of-13 from the field, including a Team USA World Cup record 6-of-6 from 3-point.
“Kyrie truly was a joy to watch throughout the FIBA World Cup this past summer and especially in the gold medal game,” said USA Basketball CEO/Executive Director Jim Tooley. “He is very deserving of this honor, and we are proud to recognize him as the 2014 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year.”
Irving is averaging 19.7 points and 5.4 assists in 37.8 minutes per game for the Cavs this season.
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