Missing: Kyrie Irving
Christmas day 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers fresh off their first title in 52 years are facing a juggernaut Warriors team. With time running down and in need of a bucket, the Cavaliers turn to Kyrie Irving. Fans watch with confidence as he rises and drains the go-ahead bucket, and in a moment, all was right in Cleveland, at least so we thought.
As fans look back onto that time, it is tough to find a point where toxicity reigned over the Cavs locker room. Where in their three straight finals appearances did things go sour? Was the picture that Cavs fans created for their team accurate, or an illusion formed out of denial?
Fast forward to the summer of 2017, fans across the globe are in shock at Kyrie's news wanting out of Cleveland. The fairytale ending to their storied championship drought has eluded them, and one question rings in every fan's mind: Why?
A question that has yet to be fully answered by Kyrie or the media and left fans reeling for years. There is no simple reason for Kyrie's departure, even though the popular consensus might say otherwise: Lebron James.
"It has been made clear to me by multiple people, Kyrie never really wanted LeBron to come back [to Cleveland] in the first place," Said Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. "LeBron said something to Kyrie on the court following a game when he was with Miami something to the effect of, 'Keep going, keep doing what you're doing. You never know, I could be back here one day.' And Kyrie basically said, 'What's he talking about, we don't need him."
Though Kyrie's narrative wanting the spotlight over James seems to be overwhelming reasoning behind Kyrie's departure, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Kyrie adopted the 'mamba mentality' from mentor Kobe Bryant. Several fans attributed his relationship with Kobe as the reason he wanted to forge on a new path and create a legacy that he built.
In hearing these reports, Bryant responded with an obscure meme that suggested that the accusation was far off base. That did not stop the media from continuing their onslaught, even drawing comparisons to his relationship with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal.
Though their relationship was rocky, Kobe and Shaq have publicly said they wished they would have stayed together. Kobe is even on record saying that if Shaq had his work ethic that he would have 12 rings at the end of his career.
Kyrie has also come out publicly and said that he did not want to repeat the Kobe and Shaq feud.
"I know I don't want to look back and say that I let my selfishness get in the way of us winning championships," Said Irving before his trade request in 2017 "because we have unbelievable talent on this team and unbelievable players, and so I don't want to ever take that for granted."
Knowing the feelings, he shared for the Shaq and Kobe feud, and Kobe's regret/hunger of winning amongst anything else, it does not make a lot of sense that he would push Kyrie out of Cleveland; especially after being apart of 3 straight finals.
So, what led to Kyrie's ultimate ugly departure from Cleveland?
"Nobody could have become a ball-dominant play creator that makes people better in the presence of the single most efficient ball dominant play creator in history," Said former Cavs GM David Griffin "Kyrie had to do this for the sake of himself as a basketball player, and it had much less to do with his relationship with LeBron. But, it's not as sexy a story, so we focus on the relationship as though somehow it would matter more if they hated each other."
Griffin went on in his interview, saying that he thought Kyrie handled the situation in the most professional way possible and that he was not at fault for the media blowing up his trade request.
Kyrie reiterated that he felt very professional in his approach to the request saying on ESPN's First Take.
"I was very diligent and very professional in terms of this entire process."
Kyrie has overwhelming confidence in himself, and it is evident in the way he comes through in the clutch. Maybe that confidence manifested itself into the knowledge that he can be the best in the world after playing and learning under arguably the best player of all-time.
But the story quickly shifted on him, Cavs fans started taking shots at his personality and labeling him as selfish by while they rapidly came to the defense of hometown hero Lebron James.
It is evident that Irving felt some disconnect from Cleveland after getting heat for leaving when their hometown kid was accepted with open arms after leaving them high and dry and would later leave again after the 2018 season.
If you were to ask 90% of Cavs fans if they hate Lebron, they would quickly respond that they appreciate the championship he brought the city. If you were to ask the same question about Irving, the word traitor would be a popular phrase.
Perhaps Kyrie felt slighted. He hit the biggest shot in Cleveland's sports history, and even that is viewed as the second-best play compared to Lebron's chase-down block. A good indication that he was hurt was from his comments after being traded to Boston.
"You go in Cleveland, and it would be at night, and there were things going on. You could see it was a vast difference of what Cleveland is and what Boston is." Said Irving, "But Boston is one of those cities … I'm driving in, and I'm like, 'OK, I'm really in a real, live sports city and a great city."
A non-subtle dig at the city that he called home for six years was all but the final blow for Cavs fans. Even after being in a "live sports city," Kyrie finds himself out of Boston, but why?
Despite Kyrie being hurt, his Celtic team made it to the Eastern Conference finals and took the Lebron led cavaliers seven games before ultimately getting bounced.
Besides his injury, Kyrie had a tremendous first year in Boston, and even came out and addressed the Celtics faithful before a game to tell them that he would be resigning.
"I think Kyrie had a really good first year with us, and going into the second year at that moment things were moving in a really good direction," Danny Ainge said about Kyries statement of wanting to resign, "It changed later in the year, but at that moment he was happy to be in Boston."
Kyrie came into a Boston team that had extraordinary young pieces, and it seemed to be a perfect fit for him to lead them on a title run. But as Kyrie would come to find out, being a leader amongst young guys is not always easy.
"I had to call [LeBron James] and tell him I apologized for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips, and I wanted everything at my threshold," Said Irving. "I wanted to be the guy that led us to a championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that, and the responsibility of being the best in the world and leading your team is something that is not meant for many people."
The realization of his faults as a leader has been viewed as shots towards teammates by the media, but could his statement about contacting his former mentor be a better indication of ownership of his mistakes?
I didn't give (his Celtics teammates) everything I could have," Irving said. "Bringing everyone together, I failed." Said Irving "It was something that I couldn't explain at the time because I don't think I was acknowledging the things that were surrounding my life as well and how to lead this group of guys that I was traded to."
Kyrie's mentality has led him to be one of the best point guards in the NBA, but it is clear that his mindset is trying to push him further than that. As the knife continues to twist via the media on Kyrie's reputation, one might understand why he is not thrilled to speak to them after games, or even in the offseason.
Kyrie may be complicated in approach, but his attitude has helped him be one of the best that the NBA has to offer in their young superstars.
"You know what he'll bring to the table every night because he cares so much about the game…Now, it might not be how other people want him to care about it. He has his way of doing things." Said new teammate and fellow NBA superstar Kevin Durant "I respect who he is and what he does. He has all the intangibles you want in a teammate and a great player. So, how he gets to the point to be ready for 7:30 every night, I'm supporting him 100 percent."
So, what is the reasoning behind Kyrie's mysterious departures? Why would he consider leaving after winning a title in 2016, and why would he leave a young deep Celtic team? Well, maybe it is more cut and dry than we think.
Perhaps fans did not see the tension because there was none, maybe things went sour after the news broke of his request to his teammates, maybe the media blew up the story.
Perhaps Kyrie just wanted a chance to be recognized as not only an all-star point guard but the greatest point guard of all-time. Maybe he started to believed his former mentor Lebron when he said that he could be an MVP in the NBA.
"It was not about Lebron it was about Kyrie achieving the most that Kyrie could as an individual player," Said Irving's former teammate Richard Jefferson "Kyrie feels that, 'Hey, I enjoyed the role of being a Pippen, but now it's time for me to go be a Jordan and lead a team.'"