Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving has just won the NBA’s 2011-2012 ROY Award. Kyrie averaged 18 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal per game, making him the obvious choice for the award. Irving received 117 of 120 possible first-place votes from a nationwide media panel of 120 writers and broadcasters. Irving finished with 592 points, way ahead of Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio (170), and Denver’s Kenneth Faried (129), who was third.
The No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft becomes the second Cleveland player to win the award, joining LeBron James in 2004.
In an NBA season plagued with controversy, the Cavaliers managed to not be the worst team in the league, which is a step up from previous post-Lebron seasons. That distinction belonged to the dismal Charlotte Bobcats. Beyond Irving’s impressive statistics, he brought hope to the Cavaliers and Cleveland fans, who have spent the past two seasons trying to forget about “The Decision” that had James leaving to join forces with Bosh and D-Wade in Miami.
In addition Kyrie Irving is well liked by the team’s upper echelon. “He is just a fantastic kid,” Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said. “He’s got a great heart. He is genuine. He loves basketball. He loves people. People love being around him. He’s humble. He’s a great guy.”
Check out rolling out’s top 5 ROY winners of all-time:
