LeBron James admitted he was hurt by recent comments from Kyrie Irving.
Irving appeared on Kevin Durant’s podcast for episodes that were released in late September and early October. In his interview with Durant, Irving said he felt like he was always the best option for a team. He felt that way until now, because he is currently teammates with Durant on the Brooklyn Nets.
“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.
“This is the first time in my career I’ve looked down and be like, ‘That motherf—er can make that shot too.’ And he’ll probably do it a lot easier,” Irvin told Durant.
“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.”
This is not necessarily a shot at LeBron, but it shows how Irving felt: he thinks he was better than James when they were teammates on the Cavaliers, even though they won a championship.
James always wanted to hand the keys in Cleveland over to Irving after he left for Los Angeles, but things didn’t work out that way because Irving demanded out first. Irving forced a trade to Boston and then eventually left the Celtics for the Nets.
Recently, James appeared on former teammate Richard Jefferson’s “Road Trippin’” podcast for an interview. The interview was a two-part episode, and the second part was released on Monday. In that part, the Los Angeles Lakers star said he asked to read the full transcript of Irving’s comments. Once he read the whole thing, he says he was bothered.
“It kind of hurt me a little,” James says. “The whole time while I was there, I only wanted to see him be an MVP. I only cared about his success … and it just didn’t align.”
Even though Irving asked out of Cleveland, he later realized how hard it was to be a leader and apologized to James. Still, this is further proof of how unrealistic Irving is. It’s no wonder James felt hurt by the comments. How could he not be?
All that talk a few years ago about a rift between the players seems real, though more one-sided.
On @RoadTrippinPod — LeBron said he was “hurt a little bit” by Kyrie Irving’s recent comments. LeBron also said he wanted Kyrie to be league MVP but they never “aligned.” It’s too bad the Lakers don’t play the Nets until Feb. 18 pic.twitter.com/JlY7B4sjV9
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) December 8, 2020
