LeBron James is the king of the NBA (and New York, if you ask him) on the court, but he’s also the king of subtle shots and coded messages. Every LeBron post on Instagram or Twitter seems to have some kind of underlying message, with even the vaguest posts creating incredible amounts of discussion and controversy.
His social media posts and his quotes to the national media are calculated, and he’s never afraid to send a couple parting shots at a former teammate with whom he’s had a falling out with. This offseason, that meant lots of subtle shots fired back and forth between he and Kyrie Irving, who requested a trade that was granted, sending him to Boston.
Since then, James and Irving have made weird social media posts possibly (likely) referencing each other. They have spoken highly of each other publicly in press conferences, but there have been not-so-subtle hints that neither was pleased with the other and how everything went down in Cleveland. From LeBron constantly referring to him as “the kid” at media day to Kyrie praising being in Boston and a place where ball movement is paramount, it’s not hard to see the strain on that relationship.
The most recent example of this came in a piece from Howard Beck of Bleacher Report on LeBron James and the Cavs’ early season struggles. While James preaches patience with their slow start, he also notes his excitement to play with Isaiah Thomas, but in one of his quotes about what Thomas brings, it’s hard not to see a jab at Irving.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had that clear-cut guy who can get guys involved but also score at the same time,” James told B/R Mag. “But it’s fine. It’s something that our team will make an adjustment to.”
James wouldn’t refer to the first 14 games of this season as “a while” so it’s safe to say he’s talking about the recent years in Cleveland with Kyrie alongside as his sidekick. LeBron and the Cavs’ frustration at times with Irving’s facilitating (or lack thereof) was always apparent, especially early on with him chastising the young point guard for not passing enough.
It’s clear LeBron still had some of those feelings despite their increased success together and winning a title, and he couldn’t help but let that little nugget come out here. The funniest part might be how similar Thomas and Irving’s stats are when it comes to facilitating over their career, with Thomas’ per-36 assists at 6.2 per game and Irving’s per-36 assists at 5.9 per game.
