Kyrie Irving’s tenure in Cleveland was full of ups and downs. He landed in a team that lost their biggest figure just one year before he made it to the league, unwillingly taking a big burden after LeBron James left to join the Miami Heat. It wasn’t an easy task, but Irving tried his best to at least bring hope to Cleveland during those years.
In 2014, LeBron James made his return to the team, making them instant contenders for the championship. Added to James and Irving, the Cavs landed Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves, assembling a pretty interesting Big 3. They went to four consecutive NBA Finals, winning one championship in the process.
Kyrie was part of three of those Finals, making the biggest shot in the 2016 Finals to beat the Golden State Warriors. After the 2016/17 season, he left the Cavs amid rumors suggesting he was tired of being under LeBron’s shadow and wanted to make his own mark on the league.
A lot has been said about this situation, but Kyrie and LeBron have been clearing the air about it in recent times. During a recent participation on Uninterrupted’s The Shop, the Brooklyn Nets point guard opened up about his partnership with LeBron in Cleveland, giving an honest response on what it meant for him and what it should mean for other players.
Kyrie Irving Opens Up On His Partnership With LeBron James
Kyrie was very honest about how he felt filling in the shoes of LeBron but also clarified that he knew what his role was once the King returned to Cleveland, mentioning all the times that James had to do a lot to take his teams to the promised land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18I2YY0VLp4
“I was watching the 30 for 30 on a decision. A year later I was drafted into that Cleveland emotional train of the prodigal son, Chosen One, has left. And here we have this 19-year-old kid–I’m 6’2″, I’m not jumping out of the gym. Emotionally I was dealing with things I had no idea [about], had nothing to do with me. Absolutely nothing. So when I took on that pressure as my own, I started feeling like, I got to bring Cleveland back to the promised land. That was a solo act.”
“The greatest thing I would tell the youth is, superheroes need help,” Irving said. “The leader of the team doesn’t always have to take on the burden. And ‘Bron took on crazy burdens.”
It’s good to see Kyrie speaking with this maturity about LeBron despite all the rumors about their relationship. They seemed to exchange jabs every now and then, but now things are cool. Hell, they were even linked to play together this offseason, so you know how great things are between them.
Kyrie remains a player of interest for the Los Angeles Lakers, but it seems like they’ll have to wait until next offseason to finally land Irving.
