Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving has doubled-down on his desire to play in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, per Grant Afseth of Athlon Sports.
Kyrie Irving: Playing For Australian National Team ‘Would Be Great’
After representing Team USA in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics, Irving is “in the process of” determining whether playing for the Australian national team is the “best route for [him] to be eligible.
The 32-year-old maintains that his preference is to play for the U.S. men’s national team. Nonetheless, the Melbourne-born baller believes representing Australia “would be great.”
“Man, we’re in the process of that right now, just trying to figure out the best route for me to be eligible,” Irving says. “There’s a lot of paperwork involved. Obviously, USA still has a decision to make, but for me, I’m just trying to do what’s best. Honestly, if I can be an Aussie at one point in my career and play for the Australian team, that would be great.”
This is the second time that Irving has suggested that he could play for the Boomers since the Paris Olympics. In October, he admitted that he would “entertain” committing to Australia while discussing not playing for Team USA. However, he acknowledged it’s not a highly probable outcome.
USA Basketball, FIBA, and the Olympic Committee all would have to be on board with his decision.
If Irving does get the go-ahead though, it’ll be a serious pickup for the Boomers. At this point, the most talented player on their roster is Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey. With all due respect to Giddey, he might not even be half as good as Irving.
Notably, Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder is among the favorites to succeed Brian Goorjian as Team Australia’s head coach.
How We Got Here
A 10-time All-Star, Irving is averaging 24.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in 2024-25. In the season preceding the 2024 Paris Olympics, he averaged 25.6 points, 5.2 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game while helping the Mavericks reach the 2024 NBA Finals. Yet, he was still bypassed by USA Basketball director Grant Hill.
Boston Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, and Philadelphia 76ers swingman Paul George are other stars known to have not made the final cut for the Paris Olympics.
In fact, Hill’s decision not to bring Brown on became a matter of public interest. Despite Brown winning the 2024 Eastern Conference MVP and 2024 NBA Finals MVP awards, Hill decided to make Celtics glue guard Derrick White the injury replacement for Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard. This led to Brown believing that Team USA’s selection process was influenced by Nike, a corporate sponsor with ties to several players who did make the roster and whom he refused to sign an endorsement deal with.
It’s worth mentioning that under Hill, Team USA has eliminated tryouts for the roster. Those concessions were originally made at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there doesn’t appear to be any movement towards re-establishing that part of the selection process.
© Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
The post Kyrie Irving: Playing For Australian National Team ‘Would Be Great’ appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.