Recently, former Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving praised the clutch abilities of Kevin Durant while seemingly taking a shot at former teammate LeBron James.
While on “Road Trippin’” on Los Angeles-based Spectrum SportsNet, the current Los Angeles Lakers superstar admitted he was hurt by Irving’s comment.
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
“The whole time while I was there (in Cleveland), I only wanted to see him be the MVP of our league,” James said about Irving. “I only cared about his success, and it just didn’t align. It just didn’t align, and we was able to win a championship. That’s the craziest thing. We were still able to win a championship, and we could never align, but I only cared about his well-being, both on and off the floor, and it kind of hurt me a little bit”
James and Irving, of course, were very successful in their time together, as they led the Cavs to three straight NBA Finals appearances and the 2016 championship.
Even if Irving questions if James is a better crunch time performer than Durant, he cannot question that James came through under pressure to lead the Cavs back from a 3-1 Finals deficit in 2016.
Irving also did his part with a virtuoso performance in Game 7 of the championship series against the Golden State Warriors.
Now that the New Jersey native is a member of the Brooklyn Nets, he has a prime opportunity to win his second NBA title.
A Finals matchup between Irving’s Nets and James’ Lakers would certainly be a very interesting grudge match if it comes to fruition this summer.