Kyrie reflects on past NBA Finals with LeBron: ‘Definitely miss him’

BOSTON — Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving could see it coming, like a second defender from the corner to prevent him from shooting a step-back 3.

Yes, of course Irving heard what his former teammate, LeBron James, said about him Tuesday, and Irving was ready to be immediately asked about it now that he is back in an NBA Finals for the first time since all those runs with James when they were together in Cleveland.

“Is that the first question,” Irving said from the dais at Finals media day, chuckling at the whole scene. “Oh, God, I love it. Got to love this, man.”

On Tuesday, James, a Los Angeles Laker for the last six years, said, “Sitting here watching (Irving’s Finals run with the Mavericks), I’m so f—ing happy and so proud to watch him continue his growth.”

“At the same time, I’m so f—ing mad that I’m not his running mate anymore,” James said to his podcast co-host, JJ Redick, in a teaser for an episode of their “Mind the Game” podcast.

“It’s appreciated,” Irving said, in response. “There’s a lot of gratitude there, as well.”

Irving, 32, hasn’t been this far in the playoffs since his last season with James on the Cavaliers, when they lost to the Golden State Warriors in five games in the 2017 Finals. After Game 5, Irving infamously forced his way out of Cleveland while still under contract, specifically to escape James and the enormous power and influence James wielded on the Cavs.

In the fall of 2018, James told The Athletic that the trade of Irving out of Cleveland to the Celtics was “the beginning of the end” for the Cavs’ Eastern Conference dynasty, as well as his own stay in Cleveland.

The twists and turns of Irving’s career since leaving LeBron are well documented, and include a tumultuous time with the Celtics. In recent days, Irving said he “wasn’t my best self” while with Boston, and on Wednesday discussed his personal growth since that time (and his final days in Cleveland) that allowed him to better appreciate the relationship he had — and has now — with James.

“Obviously, I’m in a different age, different place in my life. So is he,” Irving said. “I think we both have been able to mature and really appreciate what we got a chance to accomplish.

“I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little bit younger. Now that I’m able to vocalize how I feel as a man, be comfortable in it, stand on my square, my beliefs, where I’m coming from, I feel like our relationship’s different because of that now.”

As a duo in Cleveland, James and Irving reached the Finals three years in a row (James and the Cavs made it a fourth consecutive season with Irving gone). They won the only Finals in Cleveland history — in the only comeback from a 3-1 deficit in Finals history – thanks to a Game 7 triple-double by James, and a game-winning, step-back 3 from Irving in the final minute that will be remembered in Cleveland forever.

But the two lasted just one more season together. Irving grew tired of playing in James’ enormous shadow and enduring James’ occasionally patronizing comments. He wanted to have the same exceptions made for him that the Cavs had made for James (such as hiring friends to roles in the organization), and he wanted to enjoy the trappings of being the alpha star on a competitive team that he knew were afforded James.

Irving’s two seasons in Boston were marred by injury, first, and then controversy, and by the time he opted out in the summer of 2019 from his contract to sign as a free agent in Brooklyn, he’d decided he no longer wanted the spotlight to himself — the way James has lived for virtually all of his 21 NBA seasons, whether there were other stars on his team or not.

Irving famously called James to apologize for the way he acted toward him while they were together in Cleveland, and on multiple occasions since they’d hoped to team up together on the Lakers — or in Irving’s case, Dallas.

Irving — in seeking leverage for the eventual three-year, $120 million deal he received from the Mavericks last summer — let it be known he was recruiting James to join him there. That obviously didn’t pan out.

Irving averaged 25.6 points for the Mavericks this season and is averaging 22.8 points during the playoffs while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range.

“Definitely miss him,” Irving said. “Playing out there, just making things easier, being able to run up and down the floor, just throw the ball to somebody like that, throw it in the air, as athletic as they come.”

“(I have) a mutual respect there for what we brought to the table,” he continued. “His leadership, my leadership style, I think it meshed very well. I was learning a lot from him that I’m appreciative of for the rest of my life.”

Of the many intriguing storylines at the 2024 Finals, one is Irving’s return to face the Celtics, because they are one of his three former teams. But as part of all those Finals runs with James and Cleveland, twice they pounded the Celtics in the playoffs. In 2015, Irving’s first playoff series, they swept the Celtics in the first round, and then in 2017, it was a gentleman’s sweep of Boston in the conference finals.

In recounting James’ most recent comments, Irving said his mind went back to those memorable series against Boston, against the Warriors, against any opponent Cleveland faced in those days.

“Man, when he says comments like that, I think back to us having those moments where we’re down in a series, up in a series, we’re really demanding greatness from each other,” Irving said. “I definitely think about those times.

“Now we’re here in the present where we’re able to reflect but also now I’m at this stage, able to use some of the formulas that I was taught from him, some of the great teachers that have come before me. I feel like I’ve been built for this moment because I’ve gone through some of the things I’ve gone through in my past with some of the guys that have transcended the game.”

“Shout-out to LeBron for that. (He) knows how to stir up a media storm, get everybody in here talking about us,” Irving continued.

And with that, it was time for Irving to shift out of memory lane, get back on the Mavericks’ bus, and think about playing Boston, again.

Required reading

(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)