LeBron: 'I had so many different emotions' when Kyrie asked for trade
The Cleveland Cavaliers had a good thing going with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving at the helm, so when Irving asked management for a trade, James questioned whether he was partially to blame for that decision.
"I was wondering if something I could have did better to make him not want to be traded," James said during Cavaliers Media Day Monday. "Is it the way the season finished, or was it me coming back in the first place? Was it the coaching changes, or the GM change? I don't know. I had so many different emotions go through my head.
"I tried to do whatever I could do to help the kid out, be the best player he could be. Try to help him be a better leader, scorer, floor general, defender, passer, getting guys involved. A better leader vocally. I tried to give him everything, and give him as much of the DNA as I could. Like I told you guys throughout the season, at some point, when he was ready to take over the keys, I was ready to give 'em to him."
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Cleveland has been in the NBA Finals each of the past three years, including a championship win in 2016 following a miraculous 3-1 series comeback against the Golden State Warriors. Despite that level of success, Irving sought to carve out his own legacy elsewhere and be his own man, rather than continue playing second fiddle to James.
Roughly one week before James announced that he was returning to Cleveland back in 2014, Irving had just been locked in to a new contract extension, with the mindset that he'd be the focal point of the team moving forward. James' arrival obviously changed those plans.
Nonetheless, everything happens for a reason, and while James wishes his now former teammate well in his new home, he jokingly worries that he perhaps taught him too much during their time together.
"The only thing I'm upset about is that he took a lot of the DNA and the blueprints now to Boston," James added. "That's the only thing I'm upset about, really. Other than that, I wish the kid great health. The kid wanted to do what was best for his career."