NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving said he’s still mulling whether to play for Australia in the 2012 London Olympics.
“I’m not sure,” Irving said Wednesday before tallying 22 points, 7 assists and 4 turnovers in the Cavs’ 120-103 loss to the Knicks at MSG. “You know, it’s still up in the air. I haven’t made a decision yet. You’ll probably hear about it next week or so, what decision I make. But it’s still up in the air.”
Asked if there was any deadline to decide, Irving said, “Honestly, if there is, I’m not aware of it, so I don’t know.”
Irving, 19, was born in Melbourne but moved to the U.S. when he was 2. His father, Drederick, was in Australia playing professionally.
Drederick was roommates at Boston University with Brett Brown, the current head coach of the Australian National Team.
“You know, it would be great to play for my country, which is primarily Australia, so, I was born there and I want to represent Australia,” Irving told ESPN last year. “I have dual citizenship with Australia and America.
“I want to be claimed by Australia.”
Irving said he had spoken with Duke and Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski about potentially playing for the U.S. down the road.
“We’ve talked about it a little bit, but we haven’t gone into details about it,” Irving said Wednesday about his former college coach.
The current Team USA Olympic roster includes point guards Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups, who is injured.
The U.S. already has a roster of 20 players, and USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said over All-Star weekend, “Everyone has to pay their dues. No exceptions.”
Colangelo was referring to Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, but the same logic would apply to Irving, who could be invited to play for the Select Team that practices against Team USA.
Asked if Brown and Coach K were in a recruiting battle to land Irving, Kyrie said, “No, not really. It’s just up to me. It’s not up to either one of them.”
Irving was also asked about the imminent closing of his alma mater, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick.
Irving spent two years there, helping the Celtics win the 2009 New Jersey Tournament of Champions alongside current North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland and current Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
St. Patrick coach Chris Chavannes recently told SNY.tv exclusively that Irving had been willing to financially aid the small Catholic school, but that former St. Pat’s stars Al Harrington and Sam Dalembert had not given back to the school.
“I was surprised,” Irving said. “I didn’t really know what was going on. I still don’t really know what’s going on.”
Photo: Cleveland Plain-Dealer
