BOSTON — Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving couldn’t help but flash a disbelieving smile when, on the eve of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the first question he got on Wednesday was about a former teammate. instead of their current Finals foe.
On the other hand, LeBron James is not just any teammate.
“Is that the first question?” Irving said when asked about James’ recent comments on the podcast that he’s “fucking crazy” for not continuing to team up with the eight-time All-Star. “Oh, God, I love it. I love this, man.”
Of course, more questions followed about Irving’s other former Boston Celtics teammates. Boston was the point guard’s landing spot after he was traded away from James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2017.
Featured Sports KeynoteUSA
2 Related
But the first order of business was James, with whom he teamed for three seasons from 2014 to 2017 and made three consecutive trips to the Finals, winning it all in 2016 in a memorable seven-game series against a record-setting Golden State. Warriors team that went 73-9 in the regular season.
Irving said he “appreciated” James’ sentiments on his “Mind the Game” podcast with JJ Redick, when James praised the former No. 1 pick as “the most talented player the NBA has ever seen.”
And seven years after playing together, Irving, 32, said his relationship with James, 39, has only blossomed.
“Obviously, I’m in a different time, in a different place in my life. So is he. I think we’ve both been able to mature and really appreciate what we had the opportunity to accomplish,” Irving said. “I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little younger. Now that I can express how I feel as a man, be comfortable with it, stand firm, my beliefs, where I come from, I feel like our relationship is different for that now.”
Irving, who was traded to Dallas from the Brooklyn Nets last season after James’ Los Angeles Lakers tried to acquire him, reciprocated the nostalgia.
“I definitely miss it,” Irving said. “Man, when he says comments like that, I think about those moments when we’re down in a series, up in a series, we really demand greatness from each other. Off the court, our families mesh well. … “I definitely think about those times.”
James and Irving’s Cavs became the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals in 2016. Game 5 of that series, the first of their three consecutive victories to close it, was also historic as James and Irving became the first teammates to score more than 40 points in the same Finals game.
Yet all the success they shared left Irving, then 25, feeling incomplete. Sources told KeynoteUSA that during Irving’s last postseason with the Cavs in 2017, he spent consecutive days between playoff series reporting to the team’s practice facility without speaking to any teammates.
It was something Irving indirectly acknowledged when asked about the ups and downs he’s experienced from requesting a trade away from Cleveland to finally finding a comfort zone all these years later with the Mavs.
“Basketball has been a great teacher for me, but life has been even better,” Irving said. “Using those same principles that I’ve learned in life and applying them to basketball has allowed me to connect better with my teammates. There’s no silent treatment that randomly comes up all year because I don’t know how to emotionalize or vocalize how I’m feeling. “Some of the things I struggled with as a young player, I’ve been able to accept now, are what comes with being in this position and then also teaching my teammates how to overcome them.”
It’s the same role James took on with him.
“Now we are here in the present where we can reflect, but also now I am at this stage, able to use some of the formulas that (James) taught me, some of the great teachers that have taught me.” come before me,” Irving said. “I feel like I’ve been created for this moment because I’ve been through some of the things that I’ve been through in my past with some of the guys that have transcended the game.”
And Irving had one more compliment for the league’s all-time leading scorer.
“Shout out to LeBron for that,” Irving said. “He knows how to cause a media storm, get everyone here talking about us.”
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.