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On Wednesday, LeBron James will play the Cavaliers for the first time since his departure from Cleveland for the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.
In an interview with The Athletic, he revisited what he called "the beginning of the end for everything" with the Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving's trade at the Boston Celtics.
The story tells of the day the Cavs concluded the deal: James was signing jerseys in Santa Monica and, while the trade was about to fall, the coach of the time, Tyronn Lue, s & # He went to James' and put him on the phone with 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.
A few minutes later, on August 22, 2017, the Cavs agreed in principle to send Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and Brooklyn's first 2018 round pick.
James's close friend, Randy Mims, and bodyguard Rob Brown came to him with their phones to tell him the news. James, who always wore jerseys, dropped the pen and dropped into his chair. …
James suggested that he had not lied to Altman, even though he had been rejected by his owner, Dan Gilbert.
"You realize at this point, do not take anything from Koby, because Koby (who had just been named GM), but by that time, you realize that Koby is not the only one to lead the team because (former general manager David Griffin) had done, and that's why Griff was let off pretty much, "said James.
We know that the relationship between James and Gilbert was frosty to say the least, especially after the now infamous scathing letter that was written in Comic Sans characters after James fled to Miami a few years ago.
But we also know that James was in a year to make another decision as an independent agent, and that's where the front-office response of the Cavs is essential:
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.
In other words, the situation was complicated for Cleveland officials: if James really wanted the team to keep Irving but he had the potential to leave, what should the Cavaliers do? Start rebuilding or hoping James will decide to stay? Then you have to take into account the information that Irving was unhappy at the time. The athletic history mentions that he "told the Cavs that he wished so much going out, that he would have knee surgery and would miss a lot of the rest of his life. year".
They chose to restart reconstruction and here we are more than a year later. Irving will be fighting for a title with the Celtics, James and the Lakers are wondering how to work together and the Cavs are messy.
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