Regardless of how he left the team, Kyrie Irving wrote his name in Cleveland Cavaliers' history. He helped the team win its only NBA championship and was their beacon of hope through some dark times.
The Cavs had just lost their greatest player ever: LeBron James. Once deemed The King, James was now the biggest villain and most hated person in the state of Ohio. Needless to say, that meant Kyrie had a lot of weight on his shoulders.
That's why the often-controversial guard recently opened up on what it was to be the first-overall pick in Cleveland and how he tried to live up to those standards and expectations from the post-LeBron era.
NBA News: Kyrie Irving Opens Up On Being Drafted By The Cavaliers
(via Michael Scotto - HoopsHype)
"I had my first and only draft workout here. The amount of pressure I was putting on myself coming in after the prodigal son, LeBron James, leaves, and I had to take on the ropes after that. Who knows if I was ever going to live up to that billing? I put that pressure on myself to fill some shoes that were never meant for me. I just wanted to create my own legacy. In order to do that, I had to endure some rough years where we only has a few thousand people in the stands. I was feeling, at times, going home like a lone ranger or a superhero trying to bring Cleveland back to the top.
I think the greatest lesson I learned throughout that process was it's not a lonely road you're supposed to take on your own. It takes a lot of help and we had a heck of a team here that is forever sketched in NBA history. No matter what they say about me or anybody else, they have to talk about that team. They try to isolate me and say 'Kyrie, what have you done since you left here?' It takes a great team to do something special, and I understand that. I don't take this moment that I'm at right now for granted because it took all those times from me being here in Cleveland in order to achieve something special.
That's what I am on a journey to do now with this team in Brooklyn. Cleveland is never in the rearview, but it is definitely something I look back on to remember what it took to be a champion and how many years I had to endure (expletive) and dealing with all of this and what comes with it and people doubting. That's what makes me great, just continuing to focus on what I do best and letting my play speak for itself."
It's a fact that Kyrie failed to lead the Cavs to the playoffs without LeBron. But it's also true that they would've never won that ring without him, his crafty moves, handles, and clutch shot-making.