It's been an astounding year for Cleveland Cavaliers Guard Kyrie Irving.

NBA players train hard to accomplish a goal and make dreams a reality everyday. Sure, they are already in the NBA, so technically they have already made their dream a reality right? In a way, they have made their dream a reality, but NBA players are always striving to accomplish more. To winning a championship for your team, Winning a gold medal for your country, defying all odds put against you and putting your critics to rest. Some NBA players could only dream of accomplishing those goals in their whole career, Kyrie Irving accomplished it all in a year.

The year 2015 wasn't the greatest year for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving; Irving suffered a fractured knee injury in game one of the NBA Finals that would remove Irving out for the remainder of the postseason, along with his teammate Kevin Love. Not only was Love and Irving crucial pieces to the Cavs big 3, but was debatably the reason why the Cavs lost to reigning MVP Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in 6.

"I want to thank everyone for the well wishes. Saddened by the way I had to go out but it doesn't take away from being apart of a special playoff run with my brothers. Truly means a lot for all the support and love. I Gave it everything I had and have no regrets." stated Irving on his Instagram post. "I love this game no matter what and I'll be back soon. To my brothers: You already know what the deal is. And to Delly: 'ICE it down Del' *Big Perk voice*."

Ezra Shaw/Getty Irving exiting game 1 of the NBA finals due to a knee injury.

After missing 24 games at the start of the season, Irving would finally return against the Philadelphia 76ers. He started off slow going 0-5, But after getting more comfortable throughout the Game, Irving would score more consistently scoring five of his last seven shots, helping the Cavs propel themselves for a 108-86 win over the 76ers. Irving's return proved that the Cavs were much better as a whole, boosting confidence for the whole team as LeBron James stated.

"It felt great," Irving said. "Getting back out there with my teammates was a real pleasure."

With the Big 3 assembled again, Kyrie would assist LeBron on leading the team to the number 1 seed in the east. On January 6, he scored a season-high 32 points in a 121–115 win over the Washington Wizards.On February 8, he tied his season high of 32 points and his career high of 12 assists in a 120–100 win over the Sacramento Kings. Finally, he would go on to top his season high mark with 35 points in a 120–111 win over the Los Angeles Lakers proving the knee injury wasn't slowing him down. The Cavs would go on to finish with a 57–25 record with Irving averaging 19.6 points,4.7 assists,3 rebounds and 1.1 steals.

With the Cavaliers advancing to playoffs it was critical for the Cavs to be wary of Irving's health, nevertheless Irving showed out in Game one of the first round against the Detroit Pistons scoring a playoff career-high, he would go on to repeat his career-high in a Game four win, contributing to the Cavaliers sweep against the Pistons.The rest of the eastern conference presented not much of a challenge to the Big 3's Cavaliers and would lead to a Finals rematch against the 2x Unanimous MVP Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Irving struggled to find his shot early and the Cavaliers would end up facing a 3-1 deficit which no team in history has ever rallied back from in the Finals.

The odds were not in the Cavaliers favor. But a promise of a championship by LeBron James and Irving's competitiveness helped drive the Cavaliers force a game 7 against the Warriors that would give them a opportunity to make history. He would score 30 points in three games and Irving and James became the first teammates to each score 40 points in an NBA Finals game as Kyrie scored 41 points in Game 5 to keep the series alive.

“I remember when we were down 3-1, I think there was a 92% chance for Golden State to win it and for us, 8%,” said Irving. “Then it goes to 3-2, then it goes to 3-3, and the odds changed completely.”

Irving said he had a Mamba mentality in Game 7, a nod to Kobe Bryant indeed. In a one on one situation against Stephen Curry while both teams were unable to find their offense, tied at 89-89, in the final minute Irving took a 3 point shot over Curry that was well contested, he still managed to hit the shot that would help lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA championship in 52 years.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Kyrie Irving hits "the shot" over Stephen Curry

“It was 89-89 for a good portion of the game, especially in that fourth quarter," said Irving "So I was just thinking the next team that scores has a great chance at winning the championship, and I hope that we can be the team that's on that end.”

Irving had went to watching the Warriors win the finals from the hospital TV, to hitting a remarkable shot of his life to lift the Cavaliers over the Warriors for an NBA title. He averaged 25.2 points, 4.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds and shot 47.5% from the field.

“I tried to downplay it the whole entire season of the emotional kind of stress that I was putting on myself from getting hurt, not being there with my teammates, watching it on TV,” Irving said reflecting on last years injury.

It didn't stop there for Irving. Irving would join Team USA with a a superstar padded team to help USA win a gold medal. Irving got the chance to become more personal with each player and with Team USA dominating in the Olympics, Irving could relax and goof around,as shown by Irving and Jimmy Butler singing 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton.

Irving would help Team USA Serbia 96-66 in the gold medal game,adding another medal and championship win to his resume. Irving joined some elite company as the fourth member of Team USA to capture the NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, joining LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

(Charlie Neibergall) Kyrie Irving celebrating with his Team USA teammate Klay Thompson.

Irving compared the accomplishment of winning an NBA Championship and a gold medal to be "the same".

"I personally feel that way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about it. I do know that the journeys are different between getting a gold medal and winning an NBA championship." said Irving "The competition is different. There are a lot of things that factor. In terms of the feeling and the accomplishment, in my opinion, for me, they’re almost the same. Because neither one is guaranteed. There’s no guarantee that we’re gonna win a gold medal. There’s no guarantee going into the season that you’re going to win an NBA championship."

To experience the feeling of winning a championship not once, but twice in a single year is an experience only shared by 4 NBA players in history, and for Kyrie Irving this was his year, from a year of disappointment in the NBA Finals due to injuries, to an NBA Championship and a gold medal, proving the critics and doubters wrong. It's a year only an aspiring player could only dream of. As a new season is almost upon us one thing is certain; basketball never stops, and neither will Kyrie Irving.