"I would have loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to" - Kyrie Irving on regretting being drafted by the Cavs

“I would have loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to” – Kyrie Irving on regretting being drafted by the Cavs originally appeared on Basketball Network.

In one of his many controversial takes over the past few months, Kyrie Irving recently discussed something every NBA fan already knows: Draft night is about teams selecting players, not the other way around.

Yet, on his latest stream, Irving admitted he would have preferred it differently. The reason? The stellar point guard wasn’t exactly thrilled with the team that had drafted him — the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Draft regrets

A few months before the 2011–12 NBA season, Irving — a former Duke Blue Devil — was selected first overall. Being drafted — and especially being the top pick — is a dream few players ever achieve. Uncle Drew did, yet he admits he has some regrets.

“I would have loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to,” he said, hinting that the Cavaliers weren’t his preferred destination.

Explaining further, Kai recalled just how poor the team’s environment was at the time, one that made it difficult for young players like him to develop properly.

The Dallas Mavericks playmaker certainly has a point.

After all, most of Cleveland’s success in the 2000s came thanks to basketball icon LeBron James. Excluding James’ contributions — some would say he carried them big time — the team from The Land wasn’t exactly a sustainable winning organization from top to bottom.

That, along with the fact that they weren’t a talent factory, became even clearer after Bron left in the summer of 2010. Kai, who hails from Melbourne, Australia, said he experienced this reality firsthand upon joining the team following the 2011 draft.

Lacking a winning culture

Uncle Drew arrived in Cleveland, fresh off a dismal 19-63 season, as the franchise’s next cornerstone. While it was a huge honor, the now 33-year-old says there was a catch: the organization wasn’t exactly built to let him develop the way he’d have liked.

“Being a young player when you are on a team that’s not winning a lot of games, it’s a lot of bad habits that form,” Irving remarked, explaining how it prompted him to develop a poor approach to both winning and losing.

The 10-time All-Star also admitted that those early circumstances shaped his game negatively, forcing him to chase points rather than play winning basketball.

While Kyrie notes that it prompted him to produce countless highlight-reel plays that thrilled fans, it wasn’t the way he — who says he had been a true competitor since high school — wanted to perform.

Looking back, Uncle Drew admits that if he could have chosen his path in the NBA, he would have scoured each roster, seeking his favorite players and those he connected with before deciding where to join. Following that idea, it’s interesting to imagine which franchise he might have ended up with.

Ultimately, the 2012 Rookie of the Year found the winning environment he sought in his early years — with the same team, the Cavs — proving that sometimes, patience is key.

After James returned and Kevin Love arrived from Minnesota, Cleveland had a strong, competitive roster that bore fruit during their 2016 NBA Finals win. It was the first and only championship title of Irving’s journey in the league, which is now approaching its 15th year.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.

“I would have loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to” – Kyrie Irving on regretting being drafted by the Cavs

Tags: