Kyrie Irving arrived at media day for the NBA Finals seemingly expecting to be asked about LeBron James, and that’s exactly what happened.
“Did you see what LeBron said yesterday?” The Athletic’s Joe Vardon asked Irving immediately after he sat down at the dais for his Wednesday press conference.
“Yeah, I did. Is that the first question?” Irving asked with a smile. “Oh God. I love it. Got to love this, man.”
Kyrie misses playing with LeBron 🥺 pic.twitter.com/jxe8NgE13l
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) June 5, 2024
Earlier this week on his Mind the Game podcast with co-host and possible future head coach JJ Redick, James fawned over Irving amid his current NBA Finals run with the Dallas Mavericks.
“Sitting here watching it, I’m so f*cking happy and so proud to watch him continue his growth,” James told Redick. “I’m so f*cking mad at the same time that I’m not his running mate anymore. I just remember those times…He’s the most gifted player the NBA has ever seen.”
They could have been running mates again. Irving was a free agent last summer, and while he ultimately returned to Dallas, they did not offer him a max contract. The Lakers could have cleared enough cap space to outbid Dallas for Irving, but they opted not to do so at a time when many NBA teams felt Irving was too volatile to touch.
Fast forward 11 months, where Irving finds himself back in the media’s good graces while leading Dallas to the NBA Finals alongside Luka Dončić, and LeBron is left to wonder about what could have been.
“It’s appreciated,” Irving said in response to LeBron’s praise. “There’s a lot of gratitude there, as well. Obviously, I’m at a different age, a different place in my life. So is he. I think we’ve both been able to mature.”
“Shout out to ‘Bron for all that,” Irving continued. “Knows how to stir up a media storm and get everybody in here talking about us.”
James has an uncanny ability to remain a relevant topic of conversation even when his season is over, helped in part by the media’s obsession with his every move. Just as he created a stir by sitting courtside in Cleveland earlier in the playoffs, don’t be surprised if LeBron surfaces in Dallas during the NBA Finals. LeBron can become a free agent this summer instead of opting into the final year of his contract with the Lakers and has until June 29 to make that decision.
[NBA TV]
