Kyrie Irving’s relationship with LeBron James went through some changes over the year. The King took him under his wing when he returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, creating a terrific partnership that led the squad to three consecutive NBA Finals, winning one championship in the process.
Even though his exit from the Cleveland Cavaliers wasn’t cordial, especially knowing that he wanted to try something new away from James, Kyrie learned a couple of things from the 4x NBA champion.
LeBron has had a big influence on every team he’s played and Irving wanted to have that when he decided to leave the Boston Celtics and join the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019. According to Heavy’s Steve Bulpett, Kyrie wanted to have like LeBron on each of his teams, meaning he’d have a big say in the decisions the team would make:
“When Kyrie signed as a free agent, he basically said, ‘I’ll come and I’ll bring Kevin Durant.’ And in return, the Nets agreed that he could have a say in the roster decisions.
“It’s not uncommon at all for general managers to talk to their top players about possible trades and free agents. That’s just smart. You’re paying your guy big money, and you want him to be on board. Plus, your guy might have another view of a situation or a player that you haven’t considered. But with Kyrie, they talked this out beforehand. He wanted a situation as LeBron has—or like he thinks LeBron has.”
LeBron has been given the ‘LeGM’ nickname, as the 37-year-old has earned a reputation of picking his own teams wherever he’s played. Kyrie wanted to have that, too, and it seems like he’s had a word on everything the Nets have done in the past three years. His future with the team is up in the air now, and even if he stays at Barclays Center, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll have the same power as before.
