Waxing On the Car Wash: Irving

Dressed for success: Cleveland Cavaliers’ rookie Kyrie Irving on the ESPN basketball court.

Kyrie Irving is no stranger to the Car Wash.

The former Duke University guard’s first time on campus was April 2010 for the Jordan Brand Classic interviews.

One week before the 2011 NBA Draft, Irving stopped by Bristol again before heading to New York — where he eventually became the league’s top overall pick, a Cleveland Cavaliers’ selection.

While on campus Irving did a total of 19 interviews. The day began early with Mike and Mike In The Morning, SportsCenter and eventually First Take. He was looking forward to the First Take interview and meeting Skip Bayless for the first time. He mentioned Skip was a fan.

While hanging in the green room before the Sportscenter.com and ESPN Radio in New York interviews, Irving watched and critiqued himself on the re-air of his SportsCenter interview.

Throughout the day Irving talked about his year at Duke, March Madness and the prospect of being the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft and playing for the Cavaliers. The 3 p.m. Sportscenter, NBA Draft Special and ESPN Australia — Irving was born in Melbourne — interviews were all conducted outside on the ESPN basketball court.

Between interviews, we stopped in the ESPN Café for a quick break. Irving was so impressed by ESPN’s 3D exhibit it was a challenge to make it on time to our next interview.

Afterward, Irving said in a text: “It was a great experience to go around ESPN and be interviewed by great people. I would recommend it for anybody…and I’m very appreciative for ESPN allowing me to be part of something like that…once in a lifetime opportunity.”

I asked Irving what is one thing that most fans don’t know about him. He said that he plays three different instruments: trumpet, saxophone and baritone horn.

Recently, Irving signed an endorsement deal with Nike.

He announced the deal via Twitter saying “Feels good to officially be part of @nikebasketball!” “Can’t wait to meet all the family I’m going to be apart of. Dreams really do come true!”