Former Cleveland Cavaliers and current Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving believes that the Cavs would have won more NBA titles when he was with the team if he had been more mature.
The Cavs won the title in 2016, but they also lost to the Golden State Warriors twice with Irving on the roster.
Irving’s former teammate, Richard Jefferson, disagreed with the Nets guard. Jefferson pointed out that the Cavs were never going to beat the Warriors with Kevin Durant, who Irving now plays with in Brooklyn.
“That’s not true,” Jefferson said. “I don’t think that’s true.”
Jefferson did acknowledge that Irving could have been more mature, but he doesn’t think that’s the reason the team lost.
“Do I think his immaturity distracted us from our ultimate goals?” Jefferson asked. “No. Bro, we weren’t beating those Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant bro.
“I don’t care how mature all of us were.”
Another former teammate of Irving, Channing Frye agreed with Jefferson’s assessment. Jefferson continued to praise the Warriors, refuting Irving’s claim.
“Those were a once-in-a-multi-generation-type talents combined team,” Jefferson said.
Irving came up huge in the 2016 NBA Finals for the Cavs, and he ultimately hit the biggest shot of Game 7 over Steph Curry to give the Cavs the lead and eventually the NBA title.
It’s nice to see that Irving was willing to acknowledge his flaws during his time in Cleveland, but his two former teammates know that nothing was going to stop the juggernaut that was Golden State with Durant.
Now, the Warriors are back in the NBA Finals in the 2021-22 season and are looking for another title. They will play the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics this season.
