Kyrie Irving discussed why he asked out of Cleveland just a year after winning a title, and how the blowback he got in the aftermath shaped who he is today.
The Nets star — who has a decision to make next month on whether to opt-in to the final year of his Brooklyn contract —He lifted the lid on a host of topics, including saying the Cavaliers would’ve stayed together longer and won more if he’d been more mature.
“I just started pouring myself more into the game — I had one of my better seasons but I wasn’t connecting with everybody as much during the championship year. So 2017, it was a different year for us. We went against Golden State, we went against a great team. When you’re not a great team and not clicking on all cylinders and together, you’re easily defeated. You’re defeated before you can get to the arena.
“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.
And that’s not the only way that time has impacted Irving. He opened up about how, at 24, he sat with Cavs brass and told them he’d prefer a trade, and intended to speak with James about it but the news got leaked before that conversation took place. To compound matters, he was abroad in China when it did. “I’m not even on American soil so I can’t even get on to defend myself … and I didn’t have a sense of how to manage that when all the media’s coming after me,” Irving said.
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