Before LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers in 2014, Kyrie Irving reportedly was not entirely open to James returning to the team that drafted him in 2003.
James, who recently signed a four-year deal to join the Los Angeles Lakers, returned to Cleveland after four seasons with the Miami Heat in hopes of bringing a championship to a city that hadn’t seen a title in over 50 years.
Irving was open to asking for a trade from the Cavaliers following their championship win over the Warriors in 2016, according to Jason Llyod of the Athletic and Dave Mcmenamin of ESPN who were joined by Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland.
The following transcription is from CBS Sports,
Lloyd: “It has been made clear to me by multiple people, Kyrie never really wanted LeBron to come back (to Cleveland) in the first place. He didn’t think it was necessary. LeBron said something to Kyrie on the court following a game when he was with Miami something to the effect of, ‘Keep going, keep doing what you’re doing. You never know, I could be back here one day.’ And Kyrie basically said, ‘What’s he talking about, we don’t need him.'”
McMenamin: “Kyrie and his camp considered asking for a trade after the championship. They decided to keep it in-house and not go forward with it, but it was something they discussed.”
James and Irving’s relationship apparently wasn’t entirely a paragon of friendship with James often referred to Irving as a “little brother.” Irving chided at the notion that he was the mentee of the 33-year-old James — seeing himself as a player equal to James in stature.
Irving eventually forced a trade to the Boston Celtics after the 2016-17 season, leaving James and Kevin Love as the only stars in Cleveland, before James finally departed a year later.
