“Kyrie Irving Didn’t Want Feud With LeBron James”: How Kobe Bryant’s Rift With Shaquille O’Neal Taught Former Cavs Star

Kyrie Irving is one of the top guards in today’s NBA. The eight-time All-Star is known for his elite ball-handling skills and his natural ability to score at will. Two traits that have taken him far in his career as a professional basketball player.

Unfortunately, outside of basketball, Kyrie has a less-than-savory reputation. The man has several controversies surrounding him and has had trouble with the media and the league since 2017. The year he left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Boston Celtics

It was a shocking move, but one that was expected, especially given Irving’s ambitions. However, his move left LeBron James in a lurch. In many ways, it shared similarities with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s split in 2004. So, when he was ready to make his move, Uncle Drew looked to the Black Mamba for advice.

Kyrie Irving wanted to avoid a feud with LeBron James so he turned to Kobe Bryant for advice

In 2004, the NBA was shocked when the most dominant duo at the time, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal split up. The Lakers decided to blow things up and allow the Black Mamba to flourish into the NBA legend he is today. However, their parting was less than smooth.

The two men entered an intense feud and only patched things up years later. Well, in 2017, Kyrie Irving found himself in a similar situation. Uncle Drew was eager to spread his wings but had to consider his relationship with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. A tough decision to say the least.

So, what did he do? He turned to Kobe Bean Bryant for advice. In the hopes that Kobe’s own experiences could help him avoid a lengthy feud with The King. He revealed this and his desire to not let his selfishness get in the way of winning to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

“It’s a tough balance. Because everyone knows, Shaq was really dominant, and a lot of the individual accolades…unbelievable. And that’s who he was. Kobe was just consistently working on his game and consistently trying to prove everyone all the time. And you got to commend somebody for that. That just shows the true testament of their will and what they’re willing to do and what they’re willing to sacrifice, but I know I don’t want to look back and say that I let my selfishness get in the way of us winning championships, because we have unbelievable talent on this team and unbelievable players, and so I don’t want to ever take that for granted.”

Kobe was like a big brother to Kyrie. He looked to him for more than advice. He looked to emulate him and be better than him. Something he tried to do at an early age but failed, horrendously.

Kyrie once challenged Kobe Bryant to a one-on-one and it did not end well

As an up-and-coming star, Kyrie Irving was looking to make a name for himself even back in 2012. So, fresh off his rookie season, Kyrie went into the Olympic Summer Camp hungry for a challenge. Unfortunately, he chose to challenge Kobe Bryant, calling out the Black Mamba for a 1-on-1. Of course, at the time Kobe declined, but he taught the youngster a lesson a few months later when the Cavs took on the Lakers. Dropping 50 on them.

It must have been a great learning experience for Kyrie. He learned to never challenge the Black Mamba unless you want to get bit.