"Everyone's going to formulate their own opinions based on injuries," Irving said. "You think about injuries whether they have them when they're young, or old, or in the middle, it's part of the game. For me, I know exactly what I'm doing in the weight room and exactly what I'm doing to prepare myself for the court, and if something happens, that's just part of the game. If I go out there and bump knees with someone and get a knee contusion and have to miss a game, and then I sprain my ankle, those aren't things that can be planned. You just do the best you can to prevent it.
For me, everyone putting in the notion of breaking down, I'm nowhere near close to breaking down I can be completely honest with that. I'll just let my game on the court and my work ethic speak for all that. I'll never not put myself in a position to be successful for my teammates and for my organization. I could see if I wasn't putting in 100 percent effort in doing everything possible to prevent injuries, then cool, everyone can have their opinion and I'd start believing it. But no way will I start believing that my body will break down and I can't be better every single year."