BOSTON — Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving He couldn’t help but smile incredulously when, on the eve of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the first question that came to him Wednesday was about a former teammate, not his current Finals opponent.
Then again, LeBron James it’s not just any teammate.
“Is that the first question?” Irving said when asked about James’ recent comments on the podcast that he was “freaked out” that he would no longer be working with the eight-time All-Star. “Oh my God, I love it. Gotta love this, man.”
More questions about Irving’s other former Boston Celtics teammates naturally followed. Boston was the point guard’s landing spot after James was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2017.
But the first job was James, with whom he teamed for three seasons from 2014 to 2017 and made three straight trips to the Finals, winning it all in 2016 in a memorable seven-game series against a record-setting Golden State. The Warriors team that went 73-9 in the regular season.
Irving said he “appreciated” James’ feelings about his own The “Mind the Game” podcast. with JJ Reddick, when James praised the former No. 1 pick as “the most gifted player the NBA has ever seen.”
And seven years after playing together, Irving, 32, said his relationship with James, 39, has only blossomed.
“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 and really appreciate what we’ve had the opportunity to accomplish,” Irving said. “I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little younger. Now that I can express how I feel as a man, be comfortable with that, stand my ground, my beliefs, where I come from, I feel like the our relationship is different because of that now.”
Irving, who was traded to Dallas from the Brooklyn Nets last season after James’ Los Angeles Lakers made a run at acquiring him, returned the upset.
“He’s definitely missed,” Irving said. “Man, when he makes comments like that, I think we have those moments where we’re down in a row, in a row, we really demand greatness from each other. Off the field, our families get along well .. I definitely think about those times.”
James and Irving’s Cavs became the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals in 2016. Game 5 of that series, the first of a three-game winning streak, was also historic as James and Irving became the first teammates to both score 40+ points in the same Finals game.
All the success they shared, however, left the then-25-year-old Irving feeling incomplete. Sources told ESPN that during Irving’s final postseason with the Cavs in 2017, he spent consecutive days between playoff series reporting to team practice without speaking to teammates.
It was something Irving implicitly acknowledged when asked about the ups and downs he’s experienced since requesting a trade from Cleveland to finally find a comfort zone all these years later with the Mavs.
“Basketball was a great teacher for me, but life was even better,” Irving said. “Using the same principles I’ve learned in life applied to basketball has allowed me to better connect with my teammates. There’s no silent treatment that comes randomly throughout the year because I don’t know how to emote or articulate how I feel Some of the things I struggled with as a new player, I’ve now been able to embrace what comes in this position.
It’s the same role that James took on with him.
“Now we are here in the present where we can reflect, but also now I am at this stage, able to use some of the formulas that I was taught by [James]some of the great teachers that have come before me,” Irving said. “I feel like I’m built for this moment because I’ve been through some of the things that I’ve been through in my past with some of the kids that have transcended the game.” .
And Irving had one more compliment for the league’s all-time leading scorer.
“Shout out to LeBron for that,” Irving said. “He knows how to whip up a media storm, get everyone here talking about us.”