Family First: Kyrie Irving Makes History Signing Father To ANTA Shoe Line

Just before the start of the 2024 NBA Finals series, Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving is uniquely making history.

Kyrie, Chief Creative Officer for ANTA who signed a five-year deal with the Chinese sportswear brand last July, just signed his father, Drederick Irving, as the first-ever athlete for his signature shoe line. This marks the first time that a professional athlete has secured a shoe deal for their parent.

Drederick isn't new to basketball by any means. He played in college and professionally in Australia.

Shams Charania announced the history-making deal on social media on Tuesday afternoon.

"This marks the first time in pro sports a player has signed his dad to a signature shoe deal," the Instagram caption reads. "Drederick played at Boston University and professionally in Australia. Kyrie signed his dad to an endorsement deal -- and the Drederick Irving's will release in Foot Locker stores in September, an industry source said."

Per the Dallas Morning News last year, Kyrie said his father is his "biggest fan." His dad, who coached him through childhood and into an NBA prospect, has followed his rise in basketball closely. He's often seen cheering on his son at games.

"One of my harshest critics," Kyrie said about his father. "But he's always been honest."

In July 2023, Kyrie officially signed a five-year collaboration with Chinese sportswear brand ANTA. In addition to a shoe deal, ANTA appointed him Basketball's Chief Creative Officer, giving him the ability to recruit other basketball players and celebrities to join the team.

ANTA released a statement about the partnership with Kyrie after it was announced.

"As a new member of the ANTA family, Kyrie Irving will not only actively serve as ANTA Basketball's Chief Creative Officer, but he will also seek to recruit basketball players, independent brands, influential figures in pop culture, artists, musicians, pioneers in environmentalism, trailblazers in humanitarianism and designers to also collaborate with him to create additional product lines under Kyrie's signature line," the statement reads.

Kyrie also released a statement about the collaboration.

"I'm incredibly excited about this collaboration. The first step in becoming partners is to share the same dreams, goals, and missions," Kyrie said in a statement.

"ANTA's rapid development over the years, openness to creativity, willingness to embrace family and teamwork, expertise in areas like product innovation and manufacturing processes have left a remarkable impression on not just me, but also my A11Even Team who will work side by side with me in creating something truly generationally special."

Kyrie's partnership with ANTA came about a year after Nike ended its contract with him after he faced backlash for sharing a link on X, formerly known as Twitter, to a documentary that contained an antisemitic message.

The Kyrie 8 shoe was set to launch prior to the controversy, but Nike canceled it despite Kyrie's signature shoe line being one of the top-selling shoes for the brand.

Kyrie explained how this all became a "full circle moment" for him in an Instagram post.

"This is truly a full circle moment that I will not take for granted nor underappreciate given the many obstacles it took to get here," he wrote in his caption. "This Partnership is for all of those who want to change the world. Join me on the journey. This is #Biggerthanashoedeal."

Kyrie and LeBron James spent three seasons as teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers and together helped lead the team to three consecutive NBA Finals, winning in 2016. While the two NBA stars haven't been on the same team since 2017, the respect and admiration is still there.

During an appearance on J.J. Reddick's "Mind the Game" podcast recently, James talked highly about Kyrie.

"I would call Kyrie 'the wizard' all the time. There was nothing on the basketball floor that Kyrie couldn't do," James said. "To have a guy like Kyrie Irving as the ultimate wild card, that's like having a draw four in your hand every time someone deals you cards in Uno."

He went on to say that he has "so many words to praise Kyrie" and that he's the "most gifted player the NBA has ever seen."

"I've never seen a guy in my NBA life that feels better at times shooting with his off-hand than he does with his primary hand," he said. "If Kyrie's off in a game with his right hand, he will literally go exclusively to his left hand. I've never seen nothing like that."

It's almost time for the 2024 NBA Finals!

The Mavericks will go up against the Celtics in the Finals beginning on June 6.

NBA fans are excited about this match-up and shared their thoughts in the comments of the Finals schedule shared on the NBA's Instagram page.

One fan said, "Mavs in 4," and another said, "Celtics in 6." Another fan is tired of waiting for the excitement to start and wrote, "Ugh can’t you move it up a day or two?"

The Mavericks haven't been in the NBA Finals since winning the franchise's only title in 2011.

The Celtics have home-court advantage for this series, so the Mavs will be traveling to Boston for Game 1 and 2. The Mavs will be hosting Games 3 and 4. If a Game 5 is necessary, it's back to Boston. Game 6, if necessary, will be in Dallas, and Game 7 back in Boston.