Duke basketball: The 10 greatest NBA Blue Devils of all time
By Matt Giles
All-time top 10 Duke basketball pro: No. 2 Kyrie Irving
First, here are the negatives: 1) Kyrie Irving is prone to injuries and drama, having missed 10 or more games for various reasons in each of his 10 NBA seasons, and 2) he only played 11 games as a Duke basketball player, arguably derailing the Blue Devils’ run in 2011 by returning from a toe injury in time for the NCAA Tournament but without time for the team to reconfigure key roles.
However, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound point guard stands out on pretty much every boxscore he’s ever been a part of, never averaging less than 18 points as a pro. After going No. 1 overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Irving took home Rookie of the Year honors. And before his injury-riddled 2019-20 campaign, in which he appeared only 20 times, he’d been an All-Star six years straight.
Add in, of course, the fact that he hit the last-minute 3-pointer in Game 7 against the Golden State Warriors in 2016 to give the Cavaliers their first title. And consider that the mere 28-year-old, despite all the injuries and whatnot, already ranks in the top 10 among all past and present NBA Blue Devils in total points (11,842), assists (3,012), steals (699), 3-point makes (1,119), and more.