Duke in the NBA: Kyrie Irving commits to Boston long term
The former Duke Basketball star and current NBA superstar had many questions surrounding his future, but Kyrie Irving eased fans concern with a resounding statement.
The current Boston Celtics star and pending NBA free agent, Kyrie Irving, eased the minds of a lot of Celtics fans last week as he announced that if the organization wants him back, he plans on resigning with the C’s.
The former Duke Basketball star is entering the final year of a five year, $94 million contract that he signed with the Cleveland Cavilers prior to the Cavs 2016 Championship series.
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Irving will most likely opt out to his player option at the end of the season and then resign with the Celtics this upcoming offseason.
The future of the NBA superstar was very hazy as rumors were swirling that the West Orange, New Jersey native may have wanted to return closer to home and play for either the Brooklyn Nets or the New York Knicks.
After being traded from the Cavilers to the Celtics last offseason, in his first year with the Celtics, Irving’s season was cut short due to a knee injury as he played in 60 games, averaging 24.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Without Irving during the playoffs, the Celtics managed their way to Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals before they were eliminated by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavilers.
As the Celtics now will get to run a fully healthy lineup out on the floor pairing Irving with Gordon Hayward who missed all of last season with a gruesome ankle injury suffered in the first game of the season.
The rising star for the Celtics was former Duke Basketball superstar Jayson Tatum who became a leader on the short handed Boston team during their playoff run.
With the NBA season set to tipoff in less than a week, the Boston Celtics have their eyes locked on an Eastern Conference Championship. The Celtics open their season on October 16 at home against Eastern Conference foe the Philadelphia 76ers at 8:00 pm ET and the game can be seen on TNT.