NBA Star Kyrie Irving Reveals He Helped Deliver His Son At Home

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving surprised his fans recently when it was announced that he quietly welcomed a new baby with his wife Marlene Wilkerson. No other information was given immediately, but Irving recently sat down with Shams Charania of Stadium to discuss his third child's birth, as well as his relationship with his father, mental health and last season's struggles.

When asked about how his life has changed since welcoming his third child a few weeks ago, Irving replied, "It's an everyday commitment. Family is one of my priorities, always has been. My wife, she's a warrior."

He went on to discuss the birth of his second child with Wilkerson. "I got a chance to catch my son. And this was the second time we did a natural homebirth. I was the doula, I was the mid-husband, I was playing every role that you can think of just settling the place for my wife to make sure that our son came here safely. So it's a blessing," he explained. "It's part of my genetic coding. I was made to catch my children. I didn't get a chance to catch my daughter. She was supposed to be a natural birth too, or a waterbirth, but catching my sons it just feels like I'm just carrying on the ancient tradition that my family passed on to me as the chief of my tribe. When you get a chance to see that process, the birthing process, it's a different appreciation for women."

When the topic of Irving's dad entered the chat, he spoke about the lessons he learned from his father throughout his life, and how his father played the role of both parents after his mom passed away when he was a young child. "When I look at my dad, I just, I try my best not to get as emotional because of how much we've all dealt with, and especially him. Being the leader of the household is not easy, especially when you have to be the mom and the dad. He was both for a long period of time," he said. "And some things he just couldn't understand I was going through and some things I couldn't understand he was going through and that right there propelled us into the best friendship and brotherhood we have today."

Irving talked about transition of entering the league at the age of 19 and how life changed for him. "I needed to go through a transition. I needed to go through failure. I needed to understand that this life is very precious and the way you treat others is really what you're gonna be remembered for," he said. "I felt alone. I felt pressured. I felt a lot of anxiety. And I didn't know how to communicate it. It's not like we come into the league with psychologists and therapists right on our side to help us through everything we need. I'm just happy that I am trailblazing a path of my own journey with others that see mental health as a strength rather than a weakness."

Irving also discussed his contract situation during the off-season and said that deciding to go back to Brooklyn "was the best decision I could have made." He said the roster is what brought him back and that they have something good but won't say too much at the moment.

Last season was rough for Irving who wasn't able to play home games because of his COVID-19 vaccination status. Deciding to not get the vaccine meant he could only play away games, and couldn't practice with his team or play home games. "I was still unhealthy with my ankle during that time so I was dealing with something that was physically going on and then also for me not being able to be around my teammates at practice and on the road initially," he explained. " Yeah, it was very isolating and lonely. But it also gave me a positive outlook simply because I was able to be there for my daughter at school and I was able to be present for a lot of things I wouldn't normally be present for early in the season.

Many probably didn't realize that Irving was dealing with the ankle injury that he was. "It was by far the worst ankle injury I've ever had. I thought I broke my ankle," he said. "I still didn't know if I was gonna be healthy enough to play into the season and I did my best to hide it."

In addition to the physical injury, Irving was fighting an internal battle not being able to play much of last season. "It was an everyday battle, brother," he said. "Do I walk away from this and live with the results of when I can come back into the league? Do I leave the Nets completely? Do I ask for a trade? Do I give up on my dream itself of being back home and winning a championship? What do I do? I have all these goals but I'm not in control of the situation so how do I look at it - these are the questions I was faced with every day."