Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James “was crushed” when Kyrie Irving, his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate, got traded to the Boston Celtics in 2017, according to their former head coach, Tyronn Lue.
In an interview with Shannon Sharpe on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast, Lue revealed that James was beside himself when Irving requested a trade from Cleveland, just a year after the duo helped the Cavaliers capture a franchise-first NBA championship.
“Bron was doing an autograph signing with jerseys and stuff for his foundation,” Lue recalled of the day Irving got traded to Boston, via Dallas Hoops Journal.
“So I come sit next to ‘Bron,” Lue continued. We sitting there, hand him the phone, SportsCenter, ‘Kyrie Irving’s just been traded to the Boston Celtics.
“‘Bron dropped the marker and just lays back in his chair for about 10 minutes, doesn’t say a word, like pi**ed off. And Bron was crushed. And I saw when that happened, I thought Bron would do something different sooner than later and that’s what he did.”
He also believes that had the Cavs kept Kyrie (and KD didn’t go to Golden State), they would have won 2-3 titles and LeBron would’ve likely never left for LA.
(via @ClubShayShay)
Did Irving Disrupt a Dynasty?
Lue, the head coach of the Cavaliers team that captured the 2016 NBA title, felt that his team could have captured “at least two more titles” if Irving and James stayed together, comparing the situation to that of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on the Lakers.
The current L.A. Clippers coach further noted that the Golden State Warriors, who blew a 3-1 NBA Finals lead in 2016, would have never again beaten the Irving-James version of the Cavaliers if not for their acquisition of Kevin Durant ahead of the 2016-17 season.
“He had made his mind up,” Lue said of Irving. “But that’s like another Kobe (Bryant) and Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal). I would never let it happen. And I begged and pleaded. I begged and pleaded.”
(h/t @kyriecenterig)
Irving Had ‘No Ill Will’
Yes,” Lue said when asked if Irving’s departure cut short a potential Cavaliers dynasty.
“I also think if KD doesn’t go to Golden State, I think we win — and Kyrie [Irving] stays, because you know you can’t leave after that. I think he stays, and I think we had a chance to win two or three.”
Lue said Irving didn’t harbour any “ill will” towards LeBron James, and his decision to leave Cleveland was to pursue individual greatness. Irving echoed those same sentiments during a recent Twitch stream, while discussing his Cavs exit.
“When you’re playing with someone like [James], or somebody you like to compare him to, it’s a different animal,” Irving said, via CBS Sports.
“It’s a different journey, you’re automatically expected to be at the top of the league. Every time you play with [James] it’s going to be a lot of media attention, a lot of narratives, spun narratives, politics, a lot of s— that people don’t see in front of the camera. And for me I was just a young person trying to figure it out. It’s not that I disliked playing with [James] at any time, it was just literally my time to move on.”
When Irving helped the Dallas Mavericks reach the 2024 NBA Finals, James said on “Mind the Game” that he was “mad” the star guard wasn’t his running mate anymore.
Full episode of Mind the Game with @jj_redick drops tomorrow: t.co/PKXXT3EcGJ
LeBron James ‘Was Crushed’ When Ex-Teammate Wanted Out