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Jun 12, 2017; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) handles the ball against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the third quarter in game five of the 2017 NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Mavericks' Kyrie Irving discusses 'bad habits' formed early in career with Cleveland

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Keenan Womack | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 6:45 PM ET

Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has had plenty of missteps in his storied career, both on and off the court. Though he is a future first-ballot Hall-of-Fame inductee, a 2016 NBA Champion, a nine-time All-Star and three-time All-Pro, things weren't always this way for the former no. 1 overall pick.

The top player in his class despite playing just 11 total games at Duke his freshman season, Kyrie Irving's talent was immense, but he did not have a winning attitude yet. He said so himself in a recent live stream when discussing his time with the Cavaliers, specifically before LeBron James came back to play with the team.

“I love Cleveland, don’t get me wrong. I’m appreciative of all the things that they’ve done for me. I would’ve loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to," he admitted on a recent stream.

“I would’ve loved to develop next to some of my favorite players and some of my favorite people. Being a young player when you’re on a team that’s not winning a lot of games, it’s a lot of bad habits that form, and that’s what ended up happening to me when I was very young," he continued, discussing his weaknesses.

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“I had a lot of bad habits – I was not a winner, I was not a good loser at all, I take my accountability. I had a lot of bad habits as a young player, and that came from losing games and just trying to get buckets all the time.”

It takes a lot for someone that has had as much success as Irving has to admit this kind of fault, but he does so here. During the three years before LeBron James made his way back to the Cavs, Cleveland was a perennial basement dweller in the Eastern Conference, even with the brilliance of Irving's offense driving the team.

Though they finally saw improvement in the team's third year, it was incredibly gradual, and not indicative of the success they would soon experience. Cleveland won 21 games out of 66 in a lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, 24 games out of 82 in 2012-2013, and 33 in 2013-14. James brought not only his talents to Cleveland, but a culture of winning that rubbed off on Irving, something that the veteran guard holds onto to this day.

They would lose in the NBA Finals in 2015, 4-2 to the Warriors, before enacting revenge the following summer in a thrilling Game 7 win in Golden State on the back of a Kyrie Irving three in the waning moments.

Despite some non-legal controversies that may have marred his career at times, Irving has become one of the most influential players in the last 15 years, and a true leader in a Dallas locker room that badly needed one in the midst of the Luka Doncic trade. It's clear he credits LeBron James with part of his maturation process.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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