Kyrie Irving hints at early retirement

Kyrie Irving may retire surprisingly soon; maybe even a couple of seasons after his current contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers expires.

While making appearance on the Road Trippin’ Podcast, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving dropped a bombshell, kinda. He didn’t come out and say he’d retire early but he certainly hinted as much.

Per Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy:

While the Lauryn Hill reference may be an obscure one for some, Hill started her music career with The Fugees and the group released their first album in 1994. Hill released her second, and last, solo album in 2002.

Eight years may seem like a long time to be in the spotlight but in an industry where singers can keep up their career for at least 15 years, Hill likely didn’t even reach her peak as an artist. Irving alluding to that, in an era where players who were elite in their prime are staying in the league for 15 seasons, does mean he’s considering retiring much earlier than players do in this day and age.

Irving mentioned that he’d be a 10-year NBA veteran when he was 29-years-old.

It’s interesting that this is the age he picked for a few reasons:

First, Irving is 25-years-old and he could be alluding to retiring in four seasons. That’s a little mind-blowing. He’s coming off the best regular season of his career, averaging a career-high 25.2 points per game and a career-high effective field goal percentage (53.5 percent).

He gave us this after The Shot:

He was nearly a 50-40-90 shooter and averaged more assists than at any time since “The Return”.

Second, when Irving’s current contract expires he’ll be 28-years-old. He’ll have a player option in the season prior to the expiration of his contract and could re-sign for three years at the new max if 29 is his actual target age for retirement.

Third, LeBron James is set to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2019 offseason, when Irving will be 27 and has the player option in his contract. Irving’s decision to retire could definitely be impacted by James’ free agency decision. James, who doesn’t look like he’s slowing down, could decide to stay in Cleveland. However, he’s also alluded to playing alongside his best friends (Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul) in the past which could happen on another team.

Fourth, if Irving leaves when his contract expires, the Banana Boat could come to Cleveland. Love has the 2020 expiration date for his contract. Meanwhile, the Banana Boat bros. will be older and could do deals that James is known for, two-year contract with player options for the second year, to ensure that they all team up in the Land.

Irving is a sensational scorer and he’ll be the second best Cav to ever suit up, in my opinion. If he increases his activity level on the defensive end, Irving has the potential to be the best point guard in the league before he retires. However, Irving is a notable deep-thinker and he’s the type of person you can see exploring the world, trying to learn the secrets of levitation from Tibetan monks.

He doesn’t seem to lack a passion for a game but unlike James, he doesn’t seem to feel defined basketball legacy.

This piece of Kennedy’s tweet reaffirms that:

"“I love the game with all my heart, but there’s just so much knowledge to be acquired and so much that should be happening but isn’t”."

It’s time for us to enjoy Irving putting players on the school bus for as long as possible.

Related Story: Ranking the Top 5 draft picks in Cavs history

What do you think about the possibility of Kyrie Irving retiring early? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.