UNBELIEVABLE: Dallas Mavericks superstar Kyrie Irving announces retirement… Full Details
DALLAS — After lots of talk about his journey and how he’s grown an evolved over his 13-year NBA career saw where the next question was going to tried to head it off.
“Where are you going with this, man?” Irving asked during his practice day news conference after the Maverick fell behind the Celtics 3-0 in the series on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old guard, who has been reborn in Dallas after tumultuous stints in Brooklyn and Boston said he’s in no hurry to walk away.
“Man, I haven’t even given that much thought, to be honest with you. This has been the longest season I’ve played in awhile. It’s been six years,” he said. “So I’m looking at the big picture in a way that I probably was not ready to look at in my early 20s or late 20s. The way technology is today, the way I take care of my body every day and the way I have the opportunity to learn more about my body as I get into my 30s, I’m appreciating.
“My mind continues to get sharper. My physical tools are obviously naturally going to deteriorate, which I can appreciate, too. So adding new skill sets or adding new nuances to my game where I can be successful at this level, especially going against a more athletic league or a faster league, and you’ve got me over here speaking like I’m 38 already. But at 32 right now, I just feel like the sky’s the limit.
He said being part of the Mavericks has reinvigorated him.
“I have an opportunity to be on a special team that can be one of the teams that dominates in this era,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out the past few years, of how to be on a great team, be in an organization where I’m trusted, and also we’re able to succeed and fail together, and doing it in a way where we still have each other’s backs, and no one is giving up on the dream or the goal. Our goal is still to win a championship. That’s been No. 1. For me, that’s why I play basketball every year is just to be able to continue to get better but also to compete for championships.
“If I’m not doing that at 33 or 34 or 35, then we probably can revisit this,” he said. “But I think right now, I feel like we’re trending in the right direction, and especially this organization led by Nico (Harrison, G.M.) and J-Kidd and our new ownership group. They have a lot of trust in us, which I appreciate, which makes my decision making on what my future looks like a lot easier.”