“Keep Striving for Greatness”: Kyrie Irving Echoes LeBron James’ Mantra 7 Weeks After $126,000,000 Contract Washed Away Reunion Chances

Kyrie Irving has been one of the constant names over the course of the offseason. At first, Irving was one of the biggest names available in the free agency. Later, Kai used his social media platform, Twitch, and broke down different basketball highlights. Now, during his appearance at a red carpet event, the Dallas Mavericks superstar dished out some advice for young hoopers who are struggling. Chiming a similar philosophy to LeBron James’ “Strive For Greatness” mantra, Kai asked the youngsters to not give up. We could have seen this iconic duo, who share the same ideologies, as teammates once again. However, seven weeks ago Irving decided to sign a three-year, $126,000,000 deal with the Mavs.

As the 2022-2023 season came to an end, fans couldn’t wait for free agency to begin. Among many others, Kyrie Irving was a big name whose movements were being reported all season long. According to several analysts, LeBron James and Irving, who were teammates for four seasons, wanted to team up once again. There was no way that Bron was going to part ways with the Los Angeles Lakers. Contrary to what many believed, Rob Pelinka didn’t top the three-year, $126,000,000 offer made by the Mavericks.

Kyrie Irving advises youngsters to strive

As seen in Kyrie Center’s tweet, the shifty guard was asked to give advice to the young hoopers who were struggling.

“Kyrie, what advice do you have to those high schoolers sitting on the bench, feeling like they have no more hope?”

The 2016 NBA Champion’s advice was pretty straightforward yet powerful. Trying to instill motivation in the youngsters who’d end up watching the video, Uncle Drew wanted them to continue hustling.

“Keep striving. Keep striving for greatness. Nothing easy is worth having. Keep going,” Kyrie said.

Kyrie dropped some gems for kids who are struggling in their basketball journey:

“Keep striving for greatness. Nothing easy is worth having.” 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/HXAFmbO3i2

— Kyrie Center (@kyriecenterig) August 20, 2023

Like Kyrie, LeBron James also believes in the same mentality. “Strive For Greatness” has been a mantra that the four-time Champ has lived by all his life. Apart from having his own TV series, the King also named his Nike Elite Youth Basketball League team “Strive For Greatness”.

Living by the same ideology, it would’ve been interesting to see these two players share the locker room once again. Unfortunately, we will not be lucky enough to see them in the same uniform anytime soon.

Mark Cuban doesn’t have any plans to acquire LeBron James

While fans were not sure which team would they end up on, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were heavily interested in teaming up. Contrary to Skip Bayless’ claims of Bron not wanting to play alongside Kai, rumors had it that the Lakers would offer a lucrative deal to the combo guard.

The Dallas Mavericks made a pretty hefty offer – three-year, $126 million. An offer that the former Duke Blue Devil couldn’t refuse. Instead, the Purple & Gold signed several other Guards – Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish. Mark Cuban even went to the extent of disclosing that the Texas side had no intentions of pushing for King James. With LBJ approaching his 40s, sadly, we might not get to see him play alongside Kyrie ever again.