LeBron James Addresses Kyrie Irving Comments About Taking Last Second Shots: ‘It Kind Of Hurt Me A Little Bit’
Kyrie and LeBron. The duo won a NBA championship together in Cleveland. Now, the past few months, there’s been some talk addressing their time together with the Cavs.
To look at what’s transpired over the past few months in regards to this, we have to start with Kevin Durant‘s (Irving’s new MVP teammate in Brooklyn) new podcast called the “ETCs“. In Durant’s first episode released on September 29, his guest was Kyrie Irving.
In that episode, a lot of different subjects were discussed, including one where Irving reportedly saying this:
“One thing I’ve always been comfortable with, I felt like I was the best option on every team I played for down the stretch,” Irving said according to ESPN. “This is the first time in my career I’ve looked down and be like, ‘That (guy) can make that shot too.’ And he’ll probably do it a lot easier…It’s not so much deferring, because in past situations where I didn’t take the last shot I felt guilty. I want this game-winning shot, but also you want to trust your teammates. Not that I didn’t trust my teammates, but I felt like I was the best option.”
Kyrie Irving on Durant’s ETCs podcast per ESPN
Now, when you read this, let’s see a show of hands who thought Irving was addressing LeBron James.
Even if this wasn’t directed at him (which Irving said “If I’m addressing anyone, I’ll say their name” per ESPN in October), it still caught the attention of James.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRyvKBDH0cQ
Recently, LeBron talked about this on UNINTERRUPTED’S Road Trippin’ series and started out by saying “Ky” is one of the most talented players he’s ever played with in his life.
Then, here’s what James had to say, including that when he heard the comment Kyrie made he wanted to find the whole transcript and have his people send him the whole transcript:
“Once I got the whole transcript, I was like (dang)…I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you trippin’. I’ve hit game-winning shots my whole life.’ I was not like that. I was like, (dang) Because … I played with Kyrie for three seasons. The whole time when I was there, I only wanted to see him be a MVP of our league. I only cared about his success. And it just didn’t align. It just didn’t align. And we were able to win a championship. That’s the craziest thing. We were still able to win a championship, and we could never align. But I only cared about his well-being, both on and off the floor…And it kind of hurt me a little bit.”
LeBron James per ESPN
As you just read, the comments hurt James a little bit. It’s always hard when teammates, brothers, may say something implied towards you but you may not know for sure if it’s directed at you or not. Either way, it can be painful when you’re close with someone then you hear how they perceive you.
No matter how much you can toughen up mentally, words hurt. Words have the power to heal or destroy and we all need to learn how to respect each other more with our words.
Now to be fair, to Irving’s point, in early October per ESPN Irving wanted to clarify all this and said on Twitter:
“Why must it always be brother against brother … why? If I’m addressing anyone, I’ll say their name. Come on, y’all. Don’t listen to the false narratives. Let people live their lives! It’s just a game. You talk openly. You talk freely. But because we live in a clickbait society, it becomes something bigger. You don’t have to defend it. That’s just what media is. … It’s entertainment. I’m not going to let it put me against anybody anymore at any point. Because that’s not what it’s about. … Don’t have to put me against anyone else! It’s never been about that. It’s about the love. Peace.”
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