It may be easy to forget now, but there was a time when Kyrie Irving and LeBron James made up one of the best duos in the NBA. Together, they made 3-straight NBA Finals, won one Championship, and orchestrated the best era in Cleveland Cavaliers history.
Unfortunately, things didn’t end nicely for the pair, and their partnership came to an abrupt end in 2017.
Despite the breakup, former Cavs coach Tyronn Lue described their time together in Cleveland as positive.
(via Joe Vardon of The Athletic)
“It wasn’t a bad relationship though. LeBron really did a good job of taking him under his wing and just, Kyrie was young. A young superstar. LeBron taught him how to be a professional, how to carry yourself, take care of your body, things like that. Because Kyrie always had all the talent. I always said Kyrie never had an offensive weakness. I thought they did a great job together. I think Kyrie winning a championship and us going to three straight finals and now you want to take that chance or opportunity to have your own team and see what it’s like to carry a young team or franchise — and there’s nothing wrong with that. We all want to grow.”
It seems James become somewhat of a mentor for the young Kyrie. He taught him how to win, among other things, and their partnership worked as good off the court just as it did on it.
Though their time together wasn’t very long, both came out better in the end, with a Championship to show for all of their hard work — and that’s more than a lot of folks can say in the NBA.
