It is a distant memory at this point, but there was a time when Kyrie Irving was among the more beloved stars in the NBA. He dazzled fans with his incredible ball-handling skills and also came across as a very likable character during his days in Cleveland. It was only towards the end of his time with the Cavaliers that we found out it wasn’t all roses and sunshine with Kyrie.
He wasn’t exactly the greatest teammate, and that was on full display at his next pit stop with the Celtics as well. Fast forward to now and we have had the whole vaccine situation and a lot more, which has made Irving an incredibly polarizing athlete.
LeBron James Defends Kyrie Irving
Despite having seemingly burnt a lot of bridges over the years, Irving still has a lot of supporters within the NBA, including his former teammate LeBron James, who had some very kind words for him recently. Irving was a guest on the latest episode of The Shop, where he made quite an impression, and when a fan pointed to Kyrie’s growth, the King chimed in by saying that the Nets star is misunderstood.
He's truly so misunderstood! I love seeing his growth as well throughout the years! Always believed and knew he was so much more and deeper than just a phenomenal basketball player! #TheShop @uninterrupted
— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 2, 2022
It is fair to say that Irving is misunderstood to an extent. He is not the bad guy that he is portrayed to be by certain sections of the public, but it is easy to see why they think that way, considering all that has transpired over the last couple of years. Kyrie has painted a target on his back with his antics and he only has himself to blame for that. He spoke during this episode about it being difficult for him to deal with the media and he perhaps should take some pointers from LeBron on how to deal with the constant scrutiny and attention.
LeBron And Kyrie To Reunite?
While the two of them had seemingly fallen out after Kyrie demanded to be traded from Cleveland, partly because of LeBron, they have made up since then. It was why James was so desperate to get Irving on the Lakers this offseason and it might happen next year.
Kyrie is a free agent in 2023, and the Lakers will have plenty of cap space available to them next summer. They could try to bring Irving to Los Angeles and he did previously reveal his regret over the way he left LeBron in 2017, so he might consider making amends for it by teaming up with the King for one last hurrah.
