LeBron James and Kyrie Irving openly admit that their relationship has been a rocky one during their first season as teammates. Some people may not understand just how frustrated LeBron was with the former Duke star a few short months ago.
In a recent interview with Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Irving indicated that LeBron told him he needs to pass the ball more following a November loss to the Utah Jazz.
“He came up to me and was like, ‘One, you can never have another game with no assists. You can damn near have just one, two, three, but you can’t have zero.'” Irving explained. “And I was like, ‘All right, cool, it won’t happen again.’ And it hasn’t happened since that game.”
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst further explained LeBron’s early frustration with Irving and former Cavs guard Dion Waiters.
“At the beginning of the season, LeBron could not believe how much of a ball hog Dion Waiters and Kyrie Irving were,” Windhorst told Bill Simmons during the latest BS Report podcast. “Their first road trip, they were out west, Kyrie played something like 70 consecutive minutes without an assist. LeBron could not believe it. The first night, he got so frustrated with a game in Portland that he just basically stood over in the corner.
“The next night Kyrie did it again, so LeBron basically had to step to him. LeBron said, ‘Hey, you can’t play this way. Maybe this is the way you played the last few years, but you can’t play this way.’ To my surprise, Kyrie listened.”
Windhorst said that exchange took place after LeBron took over the role of point guard for the Cavs without consulting anyone, including head coach David Blatt.
The important thing here is that Irving seems to respect James. He has obviously taken LeBron’s advice and the Cavs have benefitted from it. Earlier this month, LeBron was the first to congratulate Irving after Kyrie dropped 57 points in a huge win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Waiters, on the other hand, obviously did not want to buy in. You almost knew he was gone when you saw LeBron’s reaction to a ridiculous 3-pointer Waiters took back in November.
LeBron and Irving being on the same page is dangerous for the Eastern Conference — even if LeBron and his coach aren’t seeing eye-to-eye.
