Dallas Mavericks superstar Kyrie Irving appeared on the I am Athlete podcast, back in May 2022.. Among a range of topics, he talked about his famous move from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics, and the kind of response the media gave him. Irving talked about how the media tried to spin the story, which eventually led to him and LeBron James not speaking for a long time. The revelation took place on episode 32 of the podcast, which was released on May 16, 2022.
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Back in 2017, Irving made the move to the Boston Celtics from LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers. However, he also suffered a season-ending injury in the first term and lost to Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals the following season. Irving eventually jumped ship for the Brooklyn Nets, before moving on to the Dallas Mavericks. Since leaving the Cavaliers, Kyrie has found limited success on the court and has been embroiled in a range of controversies recently.
Kyrie Irving explained why things did not work out with the Cavaliers
Irving talked about a range of factors that led to him leaving the Cavaliers. He claimed that while he wanted to become his own person and continue his legacy elsewhere, not because of LeBron James.
The media, at the time, had responded by claiming that Kyrie’s inability to play second-fiddle to LeBron, led to the move. However, the player simply talked about how he had different plans with respect to the organization, and James. Kobe also claimed that the media’s response had led to him and LeBron not talking for some time:
“We have to protect one another because it will seep into family life where people will really think that we don’t like each other based on us not being able to play together, you know what I mean? You asked for a trade so you must hate that dude. That’s not true, so I had to defend myself, he had to defend himself, I wana put all that to bed so that I can continue to build my own legacy. I say this, I asked for a trade because I was looking for something different. I didn’t get a chance to talk to LeBron before the media came out and said, I asked for a trade. I didn’t have a sense of what to do when the media was coming after me.”
Irving saw the parallels in his own story with that of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. He claimed that the media responded in similar fashion by coming after him, the way they did to Kobe when Shaq moved away from the Lakers:
“When I got to the end of my career, Kobe had already retired. Kobe had nothing to do with it. But people talked what they talked right? They said what happened happened because of the fight between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. The situation was similar with me.”
Hence, just like Kobe had nothing to do with Shaq’s decision to leave, Kyrie’s decision was also a result of a difference in goals, rather than a feud.
Kyrie Irving responded with LeBron’s mantra when asked for advice for youngsters
While Irving and LeBron were only teammates for a few years, Kyrie still holds the latter in high regard. So much so, that Irving came to a familiar response when asked about the advice he has for the younger generation.
He claimed that nothing “easy was worth having,” and that they needed to keep going in order to achieve their dreams. Irving started his advice with the phrase “Strive for greatness,” a mantra that is closely associated with LeBron James.
While the uber-talented guard has not won a championship since his Cavaliers days, he is still one of the most talented players of his generation. An 8-time All-Star, he will be hoping to launch a challenge alongside Luka Doncic in the coming season.
