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Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving beat LeBron James at his own game

By David Weiss

BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 3: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics look on during the second half at TD Garden on January 3, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JANUARY 3: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics look on during the second half at TD Garden on January 3, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Taking a deeper dive into how Kyrie Irving beat LeBron James at his own game, beginning with requesting a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer

When Kyrie Irving asked for a trade this past summer to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers – and LeBron James, in particular – the majority of the media and former players had scrutinized him to no end.

Fast forward to today and he finds himself on a young, up-and-coming Boston Celtics franchise that is atop the Eastern Conference standings and armed with assets at their disposal to secure a perennially competitive future for years to come.

Meanwhile, his old team is now on a four-game losing streak coming off their holiday matchup loss to the Golden State Warriors and carry the league’s highest payroll while being the second worst in the league in team defense. Overall, the Cavs have lost nine of their last 12 games.

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On top of that, the only saving grace from the Irving trade that could potentially salvage the Cavs season and championship prospects is one they can’t take advantage of: the Brooklyn Nets lottery pick. An asset which has been deemed unusable because the franchise wants to save it as insurance in the event that James departs as he did in 2011.

All of this is to say that the verdict has been largely rendered already. Kyrie Irving can finally feel vindicated from his trade demand.

At one point, he was slammed for leaving a perennial championship contender in order to placate his ego and win individual awards.

Now, the same murmurs are being used to describe the motives of his former superstar teammate.

What has come to light in the Cavs recent swoon is that the agendas of some players have come at the expense of the team’s overall cohesion.

The most significant agenda of note? That, according to the reports of those in the Cavs organization, James was holding onto the ball during games for some time in order to be awarded an assist and improve his chances of winning MVP.

Prior to this season, LeBron’s greatness was all but synonymous with the idea of certainty.

His durability is unmatched. His dominance in his 15th season in the league is unprecedented. His ability to carry a team to the NBA Finals year after year has become a virtual afterthought.

And yet, here we stand today with a case to be made that nearly all of the Cavs struggles center around the uncertainty that James creates.

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    • To date, there has been no indication or word by him on what he may do as a free agent this summer.

    He has alluded to the trek of pursuing a championship as a process that accounts for the bigger picture, theoretically priming both he and his teammates to reserve their energy to some degree for the postseason. Yet, he will viscerally blast teammates as he did a few games ago in a huddle and stress their defensive woes.

    He strong-armed the franchise to re-sign J.R. Smith only to create an early season starting lineup conflict upon his recruitment of former running-mate Dwyane Wade.

    Finally, much of the fervor which led to the Kyrie trade demand was fueled by James’ allegedly pushing for the franchise to obtain Chris Paul prior to the deal that sent him to Houston.

    In short, James has only himself to blame for the situation he finds himself in.

    The sports figure who had left two teams jilted at the altar-to date-had finally been jilted.

    Perhaps we can place that irony of sorts with his innovative contribution to the advent of superteams.

    James can be credited with extending the power of NBA free agents to be their own GM like no other player has before him.

    Prior to his arrival in Miami, no superstar could bare the PR burden of voluntarily aligning with another superstar in his prime to pursue a  championship.

    However, one could now argue that the ceiling to James legacy was cemented once Kevin Durant followed that same path in joining the Golden State Warriors.

    No one will argue that LeBron James is one of the greatest players of all time. But much like Kobe Bryant, James’ legacy will carry a black mark that must be considered moving forward.

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    The most unfortunate irony for James is that the man who was largely considered the ultimate team player caused his own undoing simply by always wanting to do too much.

    Maybe, LeBron’s next move should be to fire himself as his team’s unofficial GM.

    Certainly, there is a point guard now playing in Boston who would agree.

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