Kyrie Irving and LeBron James are in a strange place right now. James is publicly rebuking reports that he is “eager” for Irving to get traded. Kyrie, meanwhile, hasn’t said much publicly since he privately told the Cavaliers front office that he’d like to be traded.
But he’s been active on Instagram this summer, posting while he’s traveled “around” the world with Nike on a tour of Asia. But as LeBron’s Instagram posts may indicate his feelings about Kyrie’s trade demand, could something Irving did on the social media site also do the same?
As Bleacher Report pointed out in a tweet, it appears that Irving has unfollowed LeBron James on Instagram. Here’s his profile.
And here’s what you get when you search for LeBron in his “following” list, which now has 521 people on it.
There are reports out there that Kyrie believes James may have made his trade request public, which has started all of this very open drama in the first place. If that’s the case, and especially if James vibing to some new music was a subtle jab at Irving, it makes sense that Kyrie unfollowed him.
Maybe it was intentional and it signals that things are truly over in Cleveland for Irving. Or maybe maybe Kyrie unfollowed on accident and he’ll go back up to following 522 people right after this post goes live. Perhaps maybe still, this is an incredibly petty thing to search for and talk about in the first place. Who someone follows on social media is their own business, but this is what the NBA offseason does to us and Irving launching a landscape-altering bid to play elsewhere has sent us all into a frenzy.
Until Irving ends up on another team, the attention won’t die down. And even then, every LeBron vs. Kyrie game will be up there with Durant vs. Westbrook in the must-watch category. Rivalries create drama and, in a sense, Irving did this to himself. In a league of big personalties, pitting yourself firmly against the NBA’s most visible player is the best way to put yourself into the center ring of the circus.
Either way I’m sure Stephen A. Smith will have something to say about all this.
