Kyrie Irving called LeBron James to apologize over leadership issues

Kyrie Irving is showing tremendous growth as a player and as a leader. His latest anecdote expresses that fact.

Irving said after his Boston Celtics’ 117-108 that he recently called LeBron James to apologize for not having a better understanding of how leadership works on a championship-contending NBA team.

“I had to call (LeBron James) and tell him I apologize for being that young player wanted everything at his fingertips,” Irving said. “I wanted everything to be at my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to the championship. I wanted to be the leader, I wanted to be all that. The responsibility of being the best player in the world and leading a team is something that’s not meant for many people. What that brought me back to is: how do I get the best out of this group and helping them realize what it takes to win a championship.”

Irving forced his way out of Cleveland prior to last season because he was frustrated over being second-in-command to LeBron. LeBron said he was ready to turn things over to Irving, but it was too late. Kyrie’s trade to Boston gave him the chance to be a leader on a talented team, but now he’s seeing just how hard it is to get teammates on that championship level.

Understanding that he was foolish for getting frustrated with LeBron over the matter and trying to relay that message to his current teammates shows tremendous recognition.

Kyrie explains why he called LeBron James after finally understood what being a leader is all about pic.twitter.com/oZsXKIMeSq

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 17, 2019