Kyrie Irving and LeBron James’ relationship has seen better days. While they’re still teammates for now, that figures to change in the relatively near future as the Cavaliers look to honor Irving’s trade request from earlier in the summer.
Irving reportedly hopes to find himself a more prominent role on a new team rather than continuing on as LeBron’s wingman, and that choice has placed obvious strain on their relationship. James has insisted that he does not have any ill will towards Irving, but some of his social media activity suggests that he’s ready to move forward without Irving and put the Cavs on his back once again.
On Thursday, there was some apparent good news for the Cavs, as James and Irving had reportedly met in Miami over the weekend. That report from Tony Rizzo of ESPN Cleveland didn’t specify what was discussed, but having both of them in the same room together is a positive, especially if trade talks carry on into training camp.
However, that report is now being refuted by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst. Smith went on First Take and said, after defending his “LeBron wanted to punch Kyrie” report once again, he’d just gotten off of the phone with someone from LeBron’s camp that denied a meeting ever took place.
“I just got off the phone with folks about an hour ago,” Smith said. “They said LeBron James and Kyrie Irving never met at all. They were both in the city of Miami, but I was told that it is quite possible to be in the same city and not see each other. They never met. They never talked. LeBron James’ mentality, and according to his camp they want people to know this, LeBron James is fine with whoever comes into camp. Come September when training camp opens, LeBron James will be ready to ball. It does not matter who it is. It does not matter who’s on his team.”
This has become a seemingly consistent pattern with regards to reports about LeBron James this summer. Someone, somewhere, will get a source telling them one thing and very quickly another reporter will source “multiple people in LeBron’s camp” denying said report. James has become a master of managing his public image and also controlling news stories quickly. He shut Stephen A.’s report about wanting to punch Kyrie down very quickly and publicly on Twitter, leading to a bizarre rant from Smith.
As for the mysterious meeting in Miami that may or may not have taken place, in the grand scheme of things it probably doesn’t matter much — neither James nor Irving really have much say in what happens with a potential trade involving Irving — but it would have been nice for them to have shaken off the first awkward meeting prior to camp. If Smith is to be believed, and Irving trade talks should this drag on, that initial face-to-face has yet to happen and could happen in an awkward moment at training camp next month.
