LeBron James’ favorite stories have prepared him for Kyrie Irving’s jealousy and betrayal

LeBron James has seen Kyrie Irving’s jealousy and betrayal before.

Have you ever seen “The Godfather” or “The Godfather Part II”? These two films were adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel, The Godfather. They’re also films with a perfect parallel for Kyrie Irving’s jealousy and betrayal of LeBron James.

The classic Francis Ford Coppola films where Michael Corleone, played by Academy Award-winning actor Al Pacino, goes from a humble military man to a soft-spoken mob boss after his father, Don Vito Corleone, passes away?

In that movie, Michael had two brothers: Sonny and Fredo. Sonny was the oldest and initially assumed leadership of his mafia family when his father was injured from the attempt on his life. He and his father would soon reach the end of their ropes.

With only he and his brother as the only options to lead the family, Michael would become the head of the Corleone family although he was the youngest. This would lead to Fredo resenting his brother, feeling as if he was skipped — never receiving the chance to be the boss.

However, while Fredo was a neurotic fellow, Vito was cunning, Sonny was headstrong and Michael was calculating. As a result of Fredo’s demeanor and disposition, it’s unlikely he’d demand respect as a leader, even if he deserved it.

In “The Godfather Part II”, Michael would find out Fredo was working for Hyman Roth. Roth, who attempted to assassinate Michael, promised Fredo power in exchange for his betrayal.

Michael eventually found out after Fredo inadvertently outed himself, saying he never met Freddie Ola (Roth’s right-hand man) one day then accidently letting it slip that he talked to him another day. The calculating Corleone noted the deception and, having already being warned to be suspicious of Roth, understood what his brother had done.

These infamous words would then be spoke by Michael:

"“I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart.”"

This story, one of brothers and betrayal, should be understood by James. Since his loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, James has taken to obsessively reading books like The Godfather (Coppola’s films are adaptations) before his NBA Finals games. Already a fan of the films, James began reading Puzo’s novel this season.

James could very well sense a similar jealousy and betrayal from Kyrie Irving.

Irving wants to be seen as “the man” and catered to like James. Irving has taken to telling people he doesn’t want to play with James. Irving is the one yucking it up with rival players, mimicking his former mentor.

https://twitter.com/allday_ajking/status/891662736140238848

All this after James let Irving be himself. After James’ presence transformed them into a championship contender.

At the end of the film, Michael would order a “hit” on Fredo. In a basketball parallel, a “hit” on Irving would come by not only mercilessly destroying Irving and his team whenever they played but by cratering his relevance.

The best way to do that? Getting a new second-in-command to mold into the future face of the franchise. In other words, exactly what general manager Koby Altman is trying to do.

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