Kyrie Irving doesn’t regret a single move. Not playing on a sore knee, and not the one that ended his season.
Wearing a cast and using crutches, Irving spoke to reporters Wednesday for the first time since breaking his left kneecap last week in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, an injury that seemed to doom the Cavaliers' title hopes.
Cleveland, though, have rallied without the all-star, opening a 2-1 lead in the series over Golden State with a win in Game 3 on Tuesday night.
After being slowed by tendinitis during the post-season – he sat out two games in the Eastern Conference finals – Irving knew there were risks when he took the floor in the opener. However, he said doctors told him the tendinitis did not make him more susceptible to other injuries and he wanted to play.
“Obviously, there was a risk going out there playing anyway, no matter what,” he said. “It was just a freak play.”
Irving said he felt good throughout the whole game.
“It wasn’t about the minutes or anything like that that everyone wants to kind of speculate about,” he said. “It was me who decided to go out and play, put my body on the line.”
Irving said the left-to-right move he tried was something he had done “a thousand times”. He attempted to stop and believes he made contact with Warriors forward Klay Thompson.
The 23-year-old Irving knew immediately that his injury was serious.
“It was something I hadn’t felt before, and I had to walk off the court,” he said. “That was it.”
Irving was in good spirits during the five-minute interview session at Quicken Loans Arena. He wore a baseball cap backwards and a black T-shirt that said: “Killa, Champ, Menace & Drew,” a nod to teammates Mike Miller, James Jones, Kevin Love and himself.
Irving will need at least three months to recover from the broken kneecap, a setback that will only heighten talk that he is injury prone. But he’s staying positive and trying to do what he can to help his teammates finish off the Warriors and win a title.
His injury – and the one to Love’s left shoulder that ended the forward’s season – have made the challenge tougher on the Cavs.
“Everything that we’ve had to endure all season, all the goals we set, now we have to go out and accomplish it,” Irving said. “Now I’m just sitting back as a fan and enjoying it.”
*Associated Press
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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THE SPECS
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
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The specs
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
