CROCODILE KYRIE

The Boomers may get a massive boost on the eve of London 2012 if NBA rookie Kyrie Irving chooses to represent Australia at the Olympics

The Boomers have a chance to snare the talents of Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving at the London 2012 Olympics if recent comments by the Australian-U.S. dual citizen are anything to go by.

Earlier this week when asked about representing Australia at the 2012 Olympics, Irving replied “That’s probably my only choice right now.” After missing the cut of the 20 Team U.S.A. finalists, you could probably take that ‘probably’ and make it a ‘definitely’.

Irving was born in Melbourne, Australia while his father played for the Bulleen Boomers before relocating to the United States at the age of two. He holds dual-citizenship, and despite representing the United States in the Under 18s world championship, is eligible to represent Australia in the men’s division.

The dilemma the 2011 #1 draft pick has however, is deciding what is best for him in the long-term. While Australia yields a solid spot for Irving straight away and all but guarantees a place in the team for most of Kyrie’s playing career, he also has the option of waiting until 2016 when he is much more likely to be in the pool of Team U.S.A. players. Playing for Team U.S.A. would allow Irving to walk into a team with an array of NBA stars and a gold-medal pedigree, as well as having his coach at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski, who coaches the Americans. Of course, if Kyrie Irving chooses to represent Australia in 2012, he cannot represent the United States at all following that.

However, Irving also hinted at the lengthy process involved with letting him play for Australia if he so desires. “Honestly, it’s going to be a process if I decide to play for Australia. A lot of things have to do with FIBA and Australian lawyers, but I’m not ruling out that possibility of playing with the Australian team,” Anyone who followed the Andrew Bogut-Sydney Kings saga during the lockout will get a little nervous when they hear things like that, but we can only be hopeful.

Kyrie acknowledged the importance of the decision earlier this week saying, “It will be a long-term decision, and I’m hoping to know in the next month or so. I’ll keep you updated.” Given that Kyrie Irving has put up averages of 17.7 points and 5.2 assists so far in his rookie campaign, we Australians can only hope that those updates will be full of green and gold rumblings.