{"id":925069,"date":"2026-10-12T05:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925069\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T05:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:40:17","slug":"kyrie-irving-gets-candid-about-his-nba-retirement-plans-and-how-he-wants-to-end-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925069\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyrie Irving Gets Candid About His NBA Retirement Plans And How He Wants To End His Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyrie Irving<\/a> returned to the NBA after 586 days when the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> faced the Houston Rockets<\/a> for the second time in Macau. The Mavericks won 135-117, and Irving finished with 17 points, two rebounds, and three assists, shooting 6-for-13 from the field (46.15% FG) and 2-for-6 from beyond the arc (33.3% 3P).<\/p>\n

After the game, Kyrie Irving sat down for the post-game press conference and answered questions from Chinese media. One reporter asked him to reflect on his age compared with iconic NBA point guards like Russell Westbrook<\/a>, Derrick Rose<\/a>, and John Wall<\/a>, all of whom retired in their mid-30s, and whether he sees his career coming to an end any time soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really think about it in terms of just how much longer I\u2019m going to keep playing,\u201d Kyrie Irving said. \u201cI\u2019m always going to be around the basketball community, whether I\u2019m in the NBA or not. I feel like my purpose is a lot bigger than just that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut just when I\u2019m entertaining and getting to perform and be a leader alongside some of my other teammates in the NBA, and still be an impactful player, still go out there and demand excellence, demand greatness for myself, as long as I can wake up every day and step out of bed and feel good, I\u2019m gonna continue to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the support around me is incredible as well. I\u2019ve built a great support system that goes well beyond the court,\u201d Irving continued. \u201cSo basketball is the easy part. Preparing for it is the harder part. There are the unseen hours; it\u2019s the lifting, it\u2019s the daily routines, daily schedules that kind of get the best of you sometimes, get tiring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when you love something, when you love what you do, I think all you guys can attest to it in some type of capacity. When you love what you do every day, it doesn\u2019t feel like a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd ever since I came into the league, I\u2019ve learned a lot of lessons about my body, a lot of lessons about getting knocked off kind of the top spot, or where you are at your peak, and then having to go through some of those rehab sessions and just kind of reconstruct who you are on the court,\u201d Kyrie Irving added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the, I don\u2019t want to call it a luxury, but I\u2019ve had the experience of just having traumatic injuries and coming back, and I\u2019m grateful I\u2019ve been able to lean on that experience. So I\u2019m gonna keep playing as long as I love just being in the NBA, being around camaraderie, being in a locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that day comes, you guys don\u2019t know. I\u2019ll definitely probably tweet it out, go on livestream, or come over here and explain what I\u2019m doing for the next part of my life,\u201d Kyrie Irving further added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut basketball has rewarded me beyond measure. It\u2019s not just about the money aspect anymore. It\u2019s about legacy, and I have my children watching over me as well, or watching, coming up behind me, and the purpose is bigger now. The next generation is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI represent something bigger than just the game of basketball, so I\u2019m just leaning into that as well,\u201d Irving noted. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I want to win. I\u2019m a competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I appreciate you naming some of those guys who have come before me too, like John Wall and Derrick Rose. Those guys have dealt with traumatic injuries as well and come back and played as long as they could. So I commend those guys. They\u2019ve set a great example for me, and I\u2019m just extending it on behalf of them as well,\u201d Kyrie Irving said<\/a> in conclusion.<\/p>\n

After an extended injury break, Irving\u2019s comeback marks a major turning point, and his comments suggest he has no immediate plans to retire. The 34-year-old Mavericks star is still committed to playing at the top level while acknowledging the value of his legacy, family, and health.<\/p>\n

With his comeback underway, Kyrie Irving hopes to inspire the next generation of basketball players while also helping the Mavericks compete. All eyes are on Irving as he navigates his bounce-back and finally plays alongside the Mavericks\u2019 star, Cooper Flagg<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyrie Irving returned to the NBA after 586 days when the Dallas Mavericks faced the Houston Rockets for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-925069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}