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Kyrie Irving reveals he wanted to play for Australia / News - Basketnews.com

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-17)Tennis Life189

Kyrie Irving was born in Melbourne, but never wore the jersey of the Australian NT. During a Twitch stream, the NBA star explained why that didn't happen.

Credit: USA Today – Scanpix Credit USA Today – Scanpix

Kyrie Irving has represented the U.S. national team several times in the past, becoming both Olympic gold medalist in 2016 and World Champion in 2014.

However, Irving wanted to play with Australia, as he revealed on a Twitch stream. The 8-time NBA All-Star and former No.1 Draft pick, who also won the 2016 NBA title, was born in Melbourne in 1992 to expatriate parents but moved back to the United States when he was just two years old.

"I consider myself an international player even though I played on Team USA," Irving said.

"A lot of my peers laugh at me when I bring it up and some fans may not agree, but I was born in Australia. Team USA asked me to play for them when I was 17 or 18. I wanted to play for Australia, but it just didn't happen," the 31-year-old Dallas Mavericks guard continued, naming former Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski as the person who essentially recruited him to Team USA.

"Coach K wasn’t going to let that happen either," he commented.

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