INDEPENDENCE: There wasn’t much Kyrie Irving could do in the weeks following his June knee surgery. Before his rehab and therapy could really begin, Irving first had to heal — mentally and emotionally, perhaps, as much as physically.
So he read. He rewatched other NBA playoff series and some game-winning plays. And yes, he rewatched the play when he was injured. Eight times to be exact. There isn’t a reason for the eight viewings, he just happened to watch it eight times over a span of six or seven months.
“The eighth time I was like ... I’m done watching this BS,” Irving said. “I had to let it go.”
Irving is no stranger to rehabs given his injury history, but this one was different. The fractured kneecap interrupted his first NBA Finals experience and perhaps stole away his first championship ring. It entailed the longest rehab of his life and at times left him questioning the type of player he’d be upon returning.
“I wouldn’t have normal, human emotions if I didn’t think that I would ever get back to where I was,” he said. “You’re just constantly a prisoner of your emotions and your thoughts. Those days where you’re contemplating getting up and working out and every single day you’re wondering, ‘Will this be the turn? Will this be the day where I make the turn to be back on the floor?’
“Some days being taken off the floor because they told me I wasn’t ready. Those frustrating days are all put into perspective now being back on the floor and just never taking it for granted. I never took it for granted before, but when you’re out for that long and not being with your teammates, not being able to compete out there it’s a little tough.”
Once Irving strung together two, three and four good days consecutively without pain, he knew he would be all right.
“When I got the clearance from our training staff and our doctors, then I knew I was good,” he said. “And I trusted myself to go out there and play.”
Irving immediately demonstrated his burst Sunday when he sliced through an open lane on the Cavs’ first possession and shot to the basket. He couldn’t finish, but that is more attributable to the rust than his physical skills.
LeBron James last season called Irving one of the greatest below-the-rim finishers to ever play in the NBA. By the end of the first quarter Sunday, it was clear Irving still had that burst. Knee injuries have wrecked plenty of NBA careers, but not this one.
Irving remains on a minutes restriction, although he hinted Tuesday it could soon be rising. Once the Cavs get through Wednesday’s home game against the New York Knicks, they’ll begin preparing for a much-anticipated reunion with the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day.
It will also serve as a return to the scene of the injury for Irving, who hobbled off the court and spiked his jersey in frustration while retreating to the visitors locker room at Oracle Arena last June. He insisted there isn’t added emotion for him returning, then perhaps changed his mind.
“Obviously the way I went out is definitely a tough one to get across in my mind and accept,” he said. “But it is what it is. Going against a great Warriors team will be a good test for us.”
Dribbles
Mo Williams (thumb) participated in parts of practice Tuesday and is considered questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks. … Iman Shumpert again discussed his crazy night last week when he delivered his daughter in the bathroom floor of his house. Shumpert broke down crying while retelling the story to Good Morning America last week. “I honestly didn’t want to show that emotion,” he said. “It’s telling the story, man. It’s putting my mind back in that moment and there’s no better feeling than just to hold your child — your first born, at that — for the first time. I’ve never felt a feeling like that and it seems like every time I try to relive the story, I get choked up.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.