Kyrie Irving had never won a playoff series. The Cleveland Cavaliers were bottom-feeders year in and year out, a scheduled win for most contending teams. Then, LeBron James went back home, and it all changed.
The Cavs made the most of their young draft picks to land Kevin Love via trade. The Big 3 was in full effect, andthey became the most dominant powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. Kyrie broke out as a superstar in the making.
But, as per usual, there was something wrong. Kyrie wasn’t pleased with going to the NBA Finals every year and playing with LeBron, so he demanded a trade. Notably, he hasn’t been to the Finals ever since.
Kyrie Irving Says He’d Be A Laker If He Hadn’t Left LeBron James
So, looking back on his career, Irving recently admitted that he wasn’t mature enough to make the most of his time with LeBron. Moreover, he claimed that he’d still be playing with him if it wasn’t for how the media portrayed his desire to leave:
“I’d probably be in LA right now,” Irving said.”I’d probably be traveling in his backpack. I’m joking man. We’ve had conversations, me and Bron, so when me and him clicked in 2015, I had one of my best years. Bron was like behind the scenes… I asked for a trade because I was looking for something different.”
“I went to the organization, I know you have future plans, tell me right now. They told me, I said this isn’t for me. ‘Ky wasn’t talking to the team for the last month’. They started throwing all these things,” Irving added. “Iwas questioning myself like ‘I left one of the best to play the game’ and I started listening to that. When you start believing what other people say about you, you become a shell of yourself. For others that dont really give a f*ck about whether or not you breathe another day. I started digging deeper into my faith, into Islam. I started digging deep into the community, following the word of god. I’m at peace with myself.”
That’s just Kyrie Irving 101 right there. It’s never him, it’s always the media, the corporations, the patriarch, or the Illuminati. LeBron went on to win another ring without him, and we’ll all wonder how many more they could’ve won together.
