The videos of Kyrie Irving crossing everyone up and breaking ankles during the Team USA scrimmages remains fresh in my mind. In fact the young point guard dazzled everyone so much they wondered why he wasn’t apart of Team USA in their trip to the London games but that team was stocked as it was and there was no one worthy of being kicked off. Irving kept his Olympic dreams alive however and even turned down playing with Australia in order to preserve his chances with Team USA in the future. It’s working out well for the star guard as he’s gotten a very special invite. Read more after the jump.
Irving will be one of about two dozen players invited to Las Vegas at the end of July in preparation for the 2014 FIBA World Cup team (formerly known as the FIBA World Championship). No invitations have been formally extended yet, but USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo confirmed in a phone interview on Saturday that Irving will be among those invited.
“You can be assured that he’ll be one of the invitees,” Colangelo said. “He’s already established himself as one of the top three or four point guards in the league.”
The formal invitations will be extended after the season ends, but Irving secured his place with a dazzling performance for the U.S. Select team last summer in Las Vegas. He wowed Colangelo, Team USA coach (and his former college coach) Mike Krzyzewski and a number of Olympians who heaped praise on Irving for his confidence, ball-handling skills and ability to score against the best players in the world.
