The perceived LeBron James and Kyrie Irving beef has had so many twists and turns, it’s getting difficult to keep track of everything. Something happened, obviously, but there hasn’t been a single revelation that brings this entire saga together. When did it get so bad? Why did it get so bad? Why did LeBron James want to fight Kyrie Irving, according to Stephen A. Smith? These are answers we just don’t have.
Despite the fact that neither Irving nor James want to directly address each other, details have been leaking out here and there. The prevailing narrative is that Kyrie was tired of being LeBron’s “little brother,” and he wanted to go to a new team where he could get a fresh start and show the basketball world what he can do outside of the LeBron James bubble. That makes sense, to a degree, but to demand your way out seems like an awfully aggressive response to something so innocent.
Regardless of the how, why, and when, when the Cavaliers played the Celtics in the first game of the 2017-18 NBA season, it appeared as though James and Irving squashed whatever beef they had. They don’t need to be best friends going forward, but the former teammates hugged it out, exchanged words, and it seemed like this story was finally going away. Until now.
The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd reported on a truly bizarre exchange between Irving’s dad, Drederick Irving, and one of LeBron James’ closest associates, Randy Mims. Lloyd confirmed the story with three sources, which is particularly interesting in this case because the story barely makes any sense.
One day during the three years LeBron James and Kyrie Irving spent as teammates, Drederick Irving was exiting the Cavs’ locker room when Randy Mims was entering. Mims, one of James’ lifelong friends and an official Cavs employee, reached out his hand to slap Drederick five. But Dred, Irving’s father, pulled his own arm back and refused the gesture.
When James later asked Irving about the incident and if there was something wrong, Irving said his father believed they shouldn’t be “fraternizing with the enemy.” Three sources with knowledge of the exchange independently confirmed it to The Athletic, revealing just a glimmer of light into a fractured relationship that both men hid well during their time together.
What? We have so many follow up questions. If Irving’s dad “pulled his own arm back,” does that mean he essentially did the “Up High, In The Middle, Down Low, Too Slow”? Why would he initially reach out, and then pull back? And what, exactly, does Irving mean when he says that his dad claims they shouldn’t be “fraternizing with the enemy?” How is James’ friend the enemy, exactly?
Look, I know what your initial reaction is: This is dumb. This isn’t real. That was my initial reaction, too. None of it makes sense, but this is the NBA in 2017. All logic and common sense went out the window during the Kevin Durant burner Twitter account fiasco. Anything is possible these days.
