How an enduring Drederick Irving taught son, Mavericks star Kyrie, how to be a father, man
Driving from the gym on Friday morning and heading to his apartment in downtown Dallas, the deeply private Drederick Irving was in a good place and in a good head space as he talked to a reporter he had met while bonding over fatherhoold in the tunnels of the American Airlines Center a few nights earlier while bonding over fatherhood.
The situation surrounding the Dallas Mavericks and Drederick’s son Kyrie, who were down 3-0 to the Boston Celtics and seemingly on the verge of being swept out of the NBA Finals in four games, was not ideal.
But on this Father’s Day weekend, there was no conflating or nothing conflicting for the spiritual elder Irving, who counts it all as joy and long believed things happen for a purpose.
Especially on Father’s Day weekend.
A journey that began when Drederick’s own
NBA dreams ended following a standout career at Boston University and included the sudden death of Kyrie’s mother when his son was 4, becoming a single parent and sole caretaker of two small children, somehow walking out of the twin towers on 9/11 and watching his son go from from NBA superstar to star-crossed and seemingly back to being appreciated again can’t be muted anyway.
It’s a story worthy of being extolled and embraced. Certainly, Kyrie did just that in early June when the Mavs superstar guard honored his dad with a signature shoe.
Irving signed with Chinese brand ANTA in September 2023 and launched the ANTA KAI 1, part of his own line within the company. He became the first signature athlete at ANTA, making history as it’s the first time a player has signed his own father to a shoe deal.
“It means so much to me because the sneaker is a testament of our journey,”
Drederick said. “Just dreaming with Kyrie about ... he used to work out from the park, in the backyard. And just dream about one day him having a signature shoe.
“For him, to sign me as his first signature athlete is like overwhelmingly impressive. I’m just gratified at the gesture. Who gets to sign their father? And there’s a story behind so it means everything to me as a father.”
The stars aligned just right for the Irving family on Friday might as the Mavericks orchestrated a 122-84 rout of the Celtics, fending off elimination with the a 38-point final margin that was the thirdbiggest ever in an NBA Finals game.
The Maverick’s win sends the series back to Boston for Game 5 on Monday night, while providing a nice Father’s Day homecoming.
“It is very special man, now that you bring it up,” Kyrie said the Star-Telegram after walking off the interview podium after Friday’s win. “I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was just thinking about getting there. But yeah, it’s gonna be a special Father’s Day weekend for sure. I’m excited.”
After a standout prep career at Stevenson High School in the Bronx, Drederick became an AllAmerican at Boston University where he set school records for points, field goals and 3-point field goals. It’s also where his college sweetheart, a volleyball player named Elizabeth, who would become his wife.
Dredericks’s own NBA dreams died after he was cut by the Celtics followed a free-agent tryout.
He would go on to play basketball in Australia, where Kyrie was born in 1992. But tragedy struck four years later when Elizabeth died at the age of 29 after contracting sepsis while in the hospital.
And dad was forced to be a full-time single parent of two, including Kyrie’s sister Asia.
It’s simply something you can’t prepare yourself for.
“When you’re in it, you don’t really know how tough it really is,” Drederick said. ”But when I reflect though, it was tough because it was it was a dark place. I was young, I had two babies, essentially. And just living with no support out of Seattle.
“But once we migrated back to New York, that’s where I get the support. of my family. But it was it was different just going through it all. Being so young and and I’m still evolving as a young man. Now I have two kids, two babies essentially. And have to provide and protect and love. So it was a lot of pressure on me as a youngster. When you’re in it, you don’t see the pressure. But there was a lot of pressure. And I say that with conviction.”
LEARNING HOW TO BE A DAD
There is no book on raising children in a perfect situation.
And there is certainly no blueprint on doing it as a single father following the untimely death of your wife.
Add in an absent father of your own Drederick’s road map to success was simply fly by night.
“My dad was sporadically in my life when I was a youngster,” Drederick said. “But as I got older, he and I
kind of rekindled our paths or resolved a lot of our differences. Now we’re super close. But growing up. He was sporadic.”
He had coaches and other family members as role models.
But his experience with his dad motivated Drederick to make sure he was present and accounted for whenever he had kids.
Kyrie, who has two children with wife Marlene Wilkerson, said he couldn’t ask for a better father and role model.
“He has taught me about sacrifice and teaching and also understanding that parenting comes with no handbook,” Kyrie said. “There is perfect parent out there. It’s all day by day process, especially when you have a wife around or if you don’t have a wife or you have a family that you’re trying to create. It’s all about being patient, especially being the man of the house.”
THE MAKING OF KYRIE
If truth be told, Drederick didn’t set out to turn Kyrie into a basketball prodigy.
His initial goal was something simple and basic that all dads can relate to.
“I was just raising Kyrie to get a scholarship. Right. That was my goal,” Drederick said. “Kyrie took it
and he took the dream and just took it to another level. This is all Kyrie. I had the vision but he put in the work. And he just followed the blueprint. And he trusted me and believed.
But honestly, I just wanted Kyrie to get a scholarship. I knew I was going to have to pay for my daughter’s college tuition, but I could save money on Kyrie. That was my vision.”
“Kyrie has always gravitated toward the game of basketball since he was a baby,” Drederick said. “He’s dribbling at like 13 months. He was just doing phenomenal stuff at relatively early ages. And I’m like, ‘maybe I have something special here’. You never know.”
Kyrie’s special skills were nurtured and cultivated by the master teacher.
He is a magician with the ball in his hands. His ability to dribble and finish with either hand through tight creases has some believing he has greatest bag in the history of the NBA.
DALLAS PROVED TO BE THE PERFECT FIT
When Kyrie requested a trade from the Nets, no one saw him coming to Dallas a long-term proposition.
And there was no way to predict that this team, which didn’t even make the play-in tournament a year ago, would reach the NBA Finals.
Initially, it was about getting out of Brooklyn and finding a fresh start.
That the Mavericks welcomed him with open arms made the transition easy.
“I’m extremely proud of him the way the year has evolved in respect to his play on the court and just how the organization, the Dallas organization, how they embraced him with fair value,” Drederick said. “There were no preconceived notions. It was with open arms and it just happened organically. And now we are where we are. I’m just like, beyond words, proud of him. Because he was able to persevere despite what he’s been subjected to past years and that’s a true testament to who he is as a person.”
Drederick said he didn’t know much about Dallas before arrival. He knew general manager Nico Harrison from his days as a Nike executive. He knew coach Jason Kidd. And he knew they had a young superstar in Luka Doncic.
“I didn’t know much,” Drederick said. “But I had to lean on the big man above. He is the one who pointed us to Dallas. So we followed his lead. We just knew that our run and New York had come to a head and it was time for a scenery change.”
His teammates have embraced Kyrie as a leader. The city has embraced him.
Kyrie and the Mavericks are heading back to Boston, still facing an uphill journey, down 3-1 the series.
“Kyrie has had a beautiful season, the Dallas Mavericks they have had a beautiful season. I’m just so proud of the organization, Kyrie, the team, the fans. It’s been a huge run. Not sure if this was predicted from anyone. So we got to be grateful.”