On June 25th, 2014, LeBron James returned to his hometown team in Cleveland. The Cavaliers were more than happy to give the franchise’s keys to the four-time MVP, but not everybody on the roster shared their enthusiasm. Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, in particular, believed that it was their team at the time.
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Irving was already an All-Star by 2014, and Waiters, a top-five pick from the 2012 Draft, had averaged 15.9 points per game the season before LeBron’s arrival. Along with James, the Cavs also landed Brendan Haywood that summer, who shared his first-hand experience of the rocky transition in Cleveland.
“It was a little bit different because, at that point, I don’t really think Kyrie and Dion Waiters were ready to allow Bron to take the reins,” Haywood shared on the ‘Run Your Race’ podcast.
“It was a long time ago, but we once lived in a world where Kyrie and Dion Waiters were considered to be one of the up-and-coming backcourts…These guys would be forced to play a different way, you don’t have the ball as much,” the 2011 NBA champion commented.
Both guards were young and undersized but possessed a knack for creating their own offense and putting the ball in the basket. While this worked for them on a rebuilding Cavs roster, James’ arrival placed championship expectations on the team. Immediately, the effects on Waiters’ game became evident.
The then-23-year-old averaged a career-low 10.5 points on 40.4% shooting from the field and an abysmal 25.6% from three-point range. It was a steep drop-off from the previous season where Dion shot his three-pointers at a 36.8% clip.
He did increase his steals per game to 1.3 during his sole season with LeBron but his size still rendered him a liability on defense. Paired with the inability to reshape his game as a spot-up shooter, Waiters wouldn’t fit into the win-now Cavaliers. Less than a year after LeBron’s arrival, he was shipped to OKC in a three-team trade that landed JR Smith and Iman Shumpert in Cleveland.
Kyrie, on the other hand, saw more gametime alongside James, which helped his efficiency improve during the 2014-15 season.
Kyrie Irving has regrets about how he left Cleveland
The 2012 Rookie of the Year did enjoy three successful seasons alongside Bron, but after winning his first NBA championship, Irving admitted to feeling lost. He had spent most of his career aiming for this goal and after achieving it, he didn’t know what to aim for next.
“I think it was the best move for my career, honestly,” Kyrie said in 2018, a year after the Cavaliers traded him to Boston. “It may not have looked like ‘time’ for everyone else, but for me, it was time.”
However, after just two seasons with the Celtics, Irving would once again jump ship and sign with the Brooklyn Nets. He has yet to win another championship since leaving Cleveland, while his teammate LeBron James, earned his fourth during the 2020 season.
Given how the cards have fallen since his departure, Kyrie’s perspective on his trade request in 2017 has also evolved. “If I was in the same maturity line and understanding of who I am, and I look back, we definitely, definitely would’ve won more championships,” the eight-time All-Star has said.
It’s that developed maturity that has helped him excel in Dallas, where he plays a similar role behind Luka Doncic as he did alongside LeBron. That partnership has already seen an NBA Finals together, and hopefully, it will help them bring the Mavericks their second championship in franchise history.
