Kyrie Irving negotiates "the beginning of the end"

On Wednesday, LeBron James will return to Cleveland as a player for the first time since signing a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. In an interview with Joe Vardon of The Athletic, James pondered the situation that prepared him to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, he called it "the beginning of the end of everything": Kyrie Irving's trade.

The last two years of James' second stint with the Cavaliers have been marked by leadership difficulties and personnel problems. And they all converged when Irving was traded from the Cavs to the Boston Celtics on August 22, 2017. That day, Vardon said James was signing jerseys in Santa Monica, CA, when the coach of the 39th time Tyronn Lue came to see him. Lue had discovered that the Cavs were about to negotiate Irving, so he went to see James with the intention of putting him on the phone with the new general manager Koby Altman.

James was unyielding at the call – do not swap Irving, especially with the Celtics. At the end of the call, according to four separate accounts of people in the conversation, Altman told James that the transaction would not happen.

But minutes later, the news of the Irving trade broke out. The Cavs had succeeded despite James Irving's desire to stay in Cleveland.

Randy Mims, a close friend of James, and his bodyguard, Rob Brown, came to him with their phone to tell him the news. James, who always wore jerseys, dropped the pen and dropped into his chair.

"Everyone knows that when Kyrie was traded, it was the beginning of the end for everything. It's not a secret, "said James in an interview with L & # 39; athletics.

As he told Vardon, James was not angry and he did not feel lied to. It looks like he's mostly felt defeated. He thought Irving was necessary for the Cavs to compete at the highest level, but the team traded it.

Of course, the main problem was the relationship between Irving and James – or his absence. Irving was unhappy and did not want to play with James anymore. He requested an exchange in August 2017.

In fact, Irving told the Cavs that he was so eager to go out that he would have a knee surgery and miss a good part of the year if he was not exchanged. James, who has done little to bridge the gap with Irving, told the Cavs to keep him in spite of his threats.

If Irving had not wanted to stop playing with James so badly, things could have been totally different. In the end, Irving wanted to leave Cleveland and even LeBron James himself could not keep it.

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Vardon contacted the Cavs office and had a glimpse of his involvement in James' role in the Irving business.

Cavs' headquarters officials declined to be quoted for this story, but they disputed that Altman gave James an indication that the trade would not occur. They also said that Altman asked James if he would make a long-term commitment with the Cavs if Irving was not traded, and James said no.

There are many other issues related to Irving's business. James was close to former Cavs General Manager David Griffin, who had separated from the team in June 2017, a month before his contract expired. James was not consulted on this decision made by team owner Dan Gilbert. In fact, James suspects that Gilbert has simply overthrown Altman in the trade with Irving, and that his ability to overthrow the general manager and lead the team in his own way is why Gilbert replaced Griffin and hired Altman – a man who was not close to James.

The Cavs team that James will play on Wednesday is radically different from the one he left in July. The coach Tyronn Lue was fired. Kevin Love is away at least six weeks after the operation. J.R. Smith practically begged the Cavs to exchange it. The team is 2-12 and has the worst record of the NBA.

The story continues