Kyrie Irving enjoyed the most significant moments of his career so far when he was playing alongside LeBron James for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two were instrumental in helping the Cavs come back from a 3-1 deficit against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in 2016 in historic fashion and clinching the Cavaliers’ only NBA championship.
Even though they made it back to the NBA Finals the next season, the addition of Kevin Durant had made the Warriors unstoppable and after 2017, Irving decided to leave the team and join the Boston Celtics. That move didn’t quite work out for him and in 2019, he went to the Brooklyn Nets to join Kevin Durant.
Irving has spoken recently about his departure, claiming that he didn’t leave because of James, but because he wanted something new. But when anyone leaves a situation as good as the one Kyrie and LeBron had in Cleveland, it’s bound to stay with them, and Irving has now expressed to the New York Post the one regret he has about the way he made his Cavaliers exit:
“We didn’t talk during that time,” Irving admitted. “When I look back on what I was going through at that time, I wish I did, because it would’ve been a good understanding of what the future will hold for both of us and we know how much power we both had together. Me and him in the league together running Cleveland, and then being able to put a better team together every single year would’ve definitely been worth it.”
Had Irving stayed in Cleveland, there is a chance that they could have brought more championships to the city, and made some moves to properly challenge the Golden State Warriors, but that’s just a matter of conjecture at this point. Irving has teamed up with Durant now, and it will be paramount for them to make a deep playoff run together if Kyrie doesn’t want this stretch of his career to be seen as a failure.
