Kyrie Irving backs the organization and says it was his choice to play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Watch video
CLEVELAND, Ohio - When Kyrie Irving came back up from collapsing to the floor in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he knew it was serious.
"Yeah, I kind of knew," Irving said. "The way it felt, it was something that I haven't felt before."
Irving rejoined the team for film session on Wednesday, the day after his team took a 2-1 series lead over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Crutches and all, he addressed the media for the first time since undergoing season-ending knee surgery.
The team had stated that a fractured left kneecap was caused by contact and that Warriors guard Klay Thompson inadvertently kneed him. Irving backed up that version.
"I drove right. I tried to stop on a dime. I've done it a thousand times," he said. "I tried to get out of it with my knee, I tried to stop myself and my force went on to my knee and I believe Klay hit it and hit it in the right spot at the right time, fracturing my kneecap. It's a tough situation to be in, especially in the Finals at the biggest stage.
"Dealing with injuries all throughout the playoffs is definitely tough and testament to your will, but for me to go out like that, fractured kneecap and out 3-4 months, it's tough to definitely process. But having teammates that I have and the coaching staff and organization that I'm part of, it makes that process a lot easier."
Mychal Thompson, the father of Klay, told Northeast Ohio Media that he didn't see any contact made and he said Klay doesn't believe he kneed Irving.
For the last month Irving was playing on a balky left knee. The tendinitis was so severe that he was forced to miss two games in the Eastern Conference Finals against Atlanta.
The team and Irving contend that the two injuries are not related.
"No, I was not any more susceptible," he said. "My knee in terms of stability was great. Obviously there was a risk going out there playing anyway no matter what, but in terms of everything that was inside my knee stability wise, everything was fine. I trusted my trainers. I trusted my body.
"It was just freak play. I felt good throughout the whole entire game. It wasn't about the minutes or anything like that that everyone wants to kind of speculate about our training staff. It was me who decided to go out and play, put my body on the line."
Irving watched the last two games at home. He said it's been an agonizing experience. He got a scare when he saw Iman Shumpert leave momentarily with a left shoulder injury on Tuesday, the same shoulder he dislocated earlier in the year and missed six weeks.
He said he contemplated Facetiming his teammate while he was in the locker room receiving treatment, to give him some words of encouragement to get back out there.
"I'm there for them no matter what," he said. "I'm going to be riding with them no matter what."
The three-time All-Star believes this team can pull off the upset despite the absence of two All-Stars. It will be determined in the next couple days if he is capable of flying to The Bay for Game 5, back to where the incident occurred.
Whether he's physically with them or not, he's still very much involved. The competitor desires to be on the court, but his presence around the team is just as important.
"That's probably the thing that hurts the most was how great I felt going into that game and then one freak moment, how it could all kind of end for 3-4 months," Irving said. "So I wouldn't do it any different. I don't have any regrets for the decision that I've made. I trust my organization. I trust our training staff to the fullest extent."