There is no denying that some damage was done to the relationship between Kyrie Irving and LeBron James when the point guard requested a trade away from the Cleveland Cavaliers two years ago to get out from underneath James’ shadow.
But when Irving called James earlier this season to apologize for how he left things in Cleveland, some of it was healed.
James has not offered much insight regarding the call he got from Kyrie last month, but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar finally opened up a bit more to reporters on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C.
“I think I’ve always loved Kyrie, from before I met him, until when I became his teammate, to even now,” James said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “So the phone call, more than for me, I think just to see his growth … It takes a real man and a real person – and a real person to understand who they are – to be able to call, or to do anything and be able to see their wrongdoings or believe they have some wrongdoings and then be able to come to grips with that and then be able to either apologize or say that, ‘At that point and time, I thought I was ready for something, but I really wasn’t.’
“… I really don’t want to talk about it too much, because it’s not for everybody. … I love Kyrie. I love everything about Kyrie.”
Irving hasn’t had the smoothest sailing since becoming the de facto leader of the Boston Celtics, and it was clear that his phone call to LeBron was a sign of acknowledgement that the 26-year-old still has some learning to do in the NBA.
Of course, the rekindled relationship has spun rumors that the pair plan to reunite when Irving’s contract is up. James recently picked Irving to play on his team in this weekend’s All-Star Game, but with Anthony Davis saying the Celtics are on his list of teams he wouldn’t mind going to, who knows how things will shake out in the offseason.
