Nets' Kyrie Irving: 'I Really Don't Care' About Individual Accolades Anymore

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving led all scorers in the team's season-opening, 125-99 win over the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night.

But after the game, the six-time All-Star said individual success isn't the most important thing to him at this stage of his career. 

"As a young player, you think that scoring a bunch of points and doing a bunch of things, getting individual accolades are great. I definitely was going after those things, and now, I don't really care for any of those individual accolades or goals. It really doesn't bother me. I know I'm validated culturally, and that's all that matters." 

Irving, who is in his 10th season in the league and second in Brooklyn, said he is focused on winning a title with the Nets so he can "look back on history and say, 'We did it our way and had fun doing it.'" 

The 2016 NBA champion has plenty of those individual accolades already, dating back to a Rookie of the Year selection in the 2011-12 season, after the Cavaliers drafted him with the No. 1 pick out of Duke.

Now alongside Kevin Durant, who missed last season after tearing his Achilles in the 2019 Finals, Irving is focused on continuing to push a Nets club that has earned two postseason bouts in as many seasons, though hasn't been able to make it past the first round since a loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2013-14.

If he can keep up the intensity that led him to score 24 points in the first half and end the night with four rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes, they may be able to do so.