For the first time after the blockbuster trade between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, LeBron James finally broke his silence about the Kyrie Irving trade. LeBron gamely answered the questions many Cavaliers fans wanted to hear during the team’s Media Day.
While LeBron seems content with what the Cavaliers got from the trade, he cannot hide the fact that he felt betrayed; he was heartbroken after Kyrie decided to leave. His description of having “ton of emotions” can attest to his indescribable feeling.
He is clueless
“I had a ton of emotions,” LeBron said.
A month after the trade was completed, LeBron is still reeling from the wounds brought about by Kyrie’s unexpected request. He was certainly gasping for the right word to describe his thoughts when he first learned that Kyrie wanted to be traded.
One thing seems certain — LeBron has no clue he was the reason Kyrie decided to leave the team, as early trade reports suggested. The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player was still wondering whether he could have done anything that would have prevented Kyrie from thinking of being traded out. He also doesn’t know whether the Cavaliers’ failure to defend their NBA title could have contributed.
Or was he just trying to divert from dipping further into that topic?
After all, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Media Day and not a “meet-and-greet” LeBron’s fans’ day.
He is upset
LeBron was also vocal about being upset about the Kyrie trade. He said how he tried helping Kyrie become a better leader, a better scorer, a better floor general, a better defender, and a better passer and how to make his teammates getting involved.
Now, he regrets helping Kyrie Irving, a better basketball player as he took his talents to the Cavalier’s bitter rival in the East, the Boston Celtics.
“I tried to give him everything and give him as much of the DNA as I could,” LeBron James told reporters. The 13-time NBA All-Star explained, “At some point when he was ready to take over the keys, I was ready to give them to him.”
That talent could prove to be the biggest, deciding factor whether the Cleveland Cavaliers would remain as the King of the East and represent the Eastern Conference to the NBA Finals, or the Boston Celtics.
“That’s the only thing I’m upset about, really,” LeBron James said.
Moving on
Being traded is part of playing professional basketball; but not if the player himself initiated the trade request, like what happened with the Kyrie Irving trade scenario. But LeBron James is ready to move on without his teammate of three years. LeBron has nothing against him; he wished “the kid” good health and success with his new team.
But Kyrie must not expect anything more than that; he can no longer ask LeBron James for any advice. When the new NBA season starts, LeBron will put his game face back and resume his business of trying to win another championship title, “I don’t have time to give advice to other guys — you’re either with us, or you’re against us."