The Decision: Should Duke’s Kyrie Irving Enter The NBA Draft?
Kyrie Irving
Trying to get information on Kyrie Irving’s injury and its potential impact on his future is about as difficult as my Physics final was last year. As was announced early last Thursday, Kyrie — who is averaging over 17 points and five assists for No. 1 Duke — will be out indefinitely with ligament damage to his right big toe, which he sustained in the Blue Devils’ win last Saturday over Butler.
Thursday morning, Kyrie tweeted, “Situation not looking good and I’m not feeling good…smh worst thing ever.”
The Duke Sports Information office says it isn’t allowing Kyrie to do any interviews while he’s injured, and between an NBA scout, Kyrie’s high school coach, a former high school teammate, a high school talent evaluator and countless others I’ve reached out to, all I’ve received is an e-mail from Kyrie’s father, Drederick Irving, saying, “He is hanging in there. Thank you.”
Essentially, your guess is about as good as mine on what the prognosis is and whether this will affect Irving’s decision to declare for the 2011 NBA Draft.
One case that could serve as precedent involved former Atlanta Hawks guard Dion Glover. After averaging 18.4 points and 5.0 rebounds for Georgia Tech as a freshman in 1997-98, Glover tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee before his sophomore year and missed the entire season. Instead of returning school and risking further injury, he declared for the 1999 NBA Draft and was selected 20th by the Hawks.
Kyrie is a consensus top-five pick across the draft boards, and is even projected to go No. 1 by DraftExpress.com, but that could change if he doesn’t play again this season. If he returns to Duke, he would get to play with the No. 1 high school senior in the country, Austin Rivers, and could potentially be the best player on a team contending for its third-consecutive national championship.
If Kyrie is out for the season, what do you think he should do?
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December 13th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Ryan says:
Come back to Duke! Austin Rivers and Kyrie would be sick!!
December 13th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
ctkennedy says:
get the money…i dont think he will take nobody spot in the league right now…the league is mad young right now with the pgs…. so u might as well go head n get in the mix….. while everybody is tryin to make a name for themselves
December 13th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Chaos says:
@Ctkennedy that’s more reason not to go to the draft. Between his injury, an almost guaranteed lockout season and the amount of emerging young pgs in the L, he should stick w/ duke another year, polish his skills, mature more physically and raise his stock. Everyone seems bent on guys going to the L after 1 year. Do the smart thing and and stay in school. This from a diehard unc fan.
December 13th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
ctkennedy says:
@chaos i agree with u ..he aint ready imo..but u go to college to get the highest payin job possible ..for the nba draft whats higher than number 1 n the 5th pick at the worst..i hope the nba lockout force kids to stay atleast 2yrs
December 13th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Bill says:
Dick Vitale was getting a hard on talking about Austin playing with Kyrie next year in that Duke vs Michigan State game couple weeks ago.
December 13th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
JTok says:
Don’t be a fool. Stay in school B. Lockout coming up, one more year of school won’t hurt
December 13th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
heavy d says:
Depends on 2 things, when you get back from the turf toe and the lockout. If you don’t play again this season and the potential lockout looks nasty (which it does at this point), then stay in school. Better to have the facilities and medical staff handy during your rehab than sitting as the unsigned property of a club in the midst of a lockout. If you get back during the season then it becomes whether your projected draft position makes up for sitting out the lockout. Again if there is a nasty lockout it might be better for your long term marketability to stay in school and get another year of Duke TV exposure to help you become a household name for the following draft.
December 13th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Jdreamz says:
1st i think the the comparison between Irving and Dion Glover is aff base. Dion Glover was a hell of a player but was never considered to be a top 5 player prior to blowing out his knee while at Ga Tech, he also was a 2 guard with a SF game that bullied 2 the college HS and College level because of his size advantage. Irving is a PG with great vision, handles and quicks things you cant teach. I’m gonna agree with Heavy d that if he hasnt returned to playt before the end of the season and the lockout still looms then he shouls return to school where he can get the things he needs, going pro would mean borrowing from an agent until it all gets settled out and with the impeading decrease in players salary thats the last thing he would want.
December 13th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
Ksizzle says:
dudes gotta stay for another year at duke. 1) you need the experience of college ball. 2) you need the feel of winning or losing in big games. 3) you play with my man Austin Rivers!! 4)Prove to everyone that it wasnt just a one year season.
December 14th, 2010 at 8:44 am
JAY says:
Any other year, Kyrie should enter the draft and get that loot. With the impending (most agreeing it’s guaranteed)lockout coming up, he should stay at Duke for his Soph season.
BTW Dime, IMO bad comparison with Dion Glover. The situations are not even close with the looming lockout having a definite effect on Irving’s decision. Glover just had to decide whether to stay or go. If he had a lockout on the horizon (u gotta remember work-stoppages means no pay), I don’t think the decision would have been the same… but that’s just my opinion.