Kyrie Irving apologizing to LeBron James now should annoy Cavs fans

Cleveland Cavaliers fans that caught Kyrie Irving’s comments on Wednesday night regarding his apology to LeBron James should be more annoyed than relieved. Why did it have to come to this for Irving to see the bigger picture?

More from Cavs News

• 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
• 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
• NBA Expert says Cavaliers backcourt just won’t work
• When does NBA Training Camp start? When do Cavaliers start?
• Prominent NBA agent says LeBron had a harder path than Jordan

The Cleveland Cavaliers had made it to three straight NBA Finals with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving running the show for the Wine and Gold. James, who returned home in 2014 with a big factor in that being the chance to play with Irving, came back after figuring out what he was lacking the first time he played for the Cavaliers. With his knowledge and understanding of leadership even stronger, James saw a chance to not only win with Irving but give him the keys to success.

But Irving was too stubborn to see the bigger picture with LeBron. And that should annoy Cavaliers fans.

After the Boston Celtics’ 117-108 victory over the current top-seed Toronto Raptors Wednesday night, Irving spoke to reporters and revealed that he gave James a phone call after Boston’s upset loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday. The final play in the loss to Orlando didn’t go as planned in Irving’s mind as 20-year old Jayson Tatum took the final shot to try and tie the game up.

Irving had to have seen himself in Tatum at that moment and that’s not to say Tatum was being selfish. Instead, a battle-tested Irving saw a kid that’s trying to claim the big stage when there are more seasoned players to go to during that moment.

That’s what’s the most frustrating thing about the Cavaliers’ short-lived run, in my opinion.

When talking about the end of Cleveland’s reign as leader of the Eastern Conference, Dan Gilbert, Koby Altman, and James seem to get a lot of the blame.

Gilbert, the Cavaliers’ owner, has a stubborn nature that led to LeBron leaving twice in most’s eyes. Altman, the Cavaliers’ new general manager, was thrown into a very pivotal situation for the franchise and expected to make a veteran move with the trade in his first go-round. And of course, James is Cavaliers basketball. Him leaving gets a ton of backlash due to the fan base knowing their beloved Cavaliers would head back to the basement of the NBA standings.

But where’s Kyrie’s blame?

If you want to argue that Irving’s blame came after his “real, live sports city” comments when he was traded to Boston, go for it. But he never received enough criticism for him wanting out when things weren’t ideal for him.

Star players get mentioned in trades a lot more frequently nowadays, so Irving being mentioned in such talks before he requested his own trading shouldn’t have been enough for him to want out. And on another note, the trade chatter leads those to wonder how Irving was acting behind-the-scenes.

Could there have been some factors that played into Irving being the star floated in trade discussions that went beyond the return in a deal?

No one will ever know how much of a battle it was between Irving and James when it came to being “the guy.”

But it’s silly to think a two-time NBA Champion in James had to fight for the right to lead over a young phenom who at that time only had an All-Star MVP as his highest honor.

A big reason LeBron left was the handling of Irving’s trade. He never got a chance to talk Kyrie back to his senses and help him realize the bigger picture. LeBron wouldn’t be in the NBA for much longer and at 25-years-old, Irving still had a chance to grow and learn about being a leader before he had to entirely take the reigns.

Instead, Irving saw the chance to snatch a top role somewhere else and demanded it happen immediately.

LeBron had to leave Cleveland the first time to find out how to be championship leader from one of his best friends, Dwyane Wade. Irving had it all fall in his lap just to neglect it.

Just two seasons later, the former Cavaliers point guard finally brought to light his power struggle with LeBron. While it wasn’t the only issue for Cleveland at that time, it played a pretty big role when it came to chemistry as the years went on.

For those that wanted closure on the tenure’s ending, you definitely got that and more. Irving owned the fact that he tried to be the man when he wasn’t ready for that moment just yet, similar to the Celtics’ current issues. It just sucks he couldn’t see what he had when he was in Cleveland. Things could’ve been a lot different for everyone involved.