The Cleveland Cavaliers had one of the league’s best duos for a time when LeBron James and Kyrie Irving played together. Unfortunately, they had a short-lived time together, as the latter requested a trade from the organization in the 2018 offseason.
There were reports then that James and Irving had a contentious relationship despite their relatively successful partnership. It didn’t help that the point guard admitted to not bidding his former teammate farewell after his trade to the Boston Celtics was finalized.
“Why would I have to?” Kyrie responded after he was asked if he let LeBron know about his desire to leave Cleveland.
The reasons for leaving
The eight-time All-Star also said then, “I don’t think you owe anything to another person in terms of figuring out what you want to do with your life.” As innocent as that statement may sound, it’s also easy to see why people thought Irving didn’t have a positive relationship with James.
In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best career move for the crafty playmaker, even if that was what he believed a year after the trade. After all, Irving was joining a squad with star veterans Gordon Hayward and Al Horford and top draft picks Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.