Kyrie Irving Felt ‘Validation’ After Clutch Game 7 Performance

Kyrie Irving’s life “changed drastically” after his enormous three-pointer late in Game 7 of the NBA Finals helped clinch the first title in Cleveland Cavaliers history.

The All-Star point guard says his heroics on the biggest stage validated him as one of the League’s greatest players.

Uncle Drew capped his wildly successful summer with an Olympic Gold Medal.

Per the NEOMG:

“Yes, my life’s changed drastically,” Irving said Saturday, during Irving’s friendship walk and basketball challenge downtown for Best Buddies, Ohio — an organization that gives social growth and employment opportunities to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 

“It’s kind of, you’re waiting for that validation from everyone, I guess, to be considered one of the top players in the league at the highest stage,” Irving said. “That kind of changed. I was just trying to earn everyone’s respect as much as I could.”

 

Irving comes to Cavs training camp Monday not just a champion, but an Olympic gold medalist. He was Team USA’s starting point guard at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, becoming just the fourth player in NBA history to win a championship and a gold medal in the same summer. […] “I never thought I’d be an NBA champion when I was 24 years old,” Irving said. “I just had to re-start, regroup and re-prioritize what I wanted to accomplish as a player and also as a teammate, this summer.”