The Cleveland Cavaliers made it to the NBA Finals three straight times with Kyrie Irving, winning just one of them.
And while Irving is responsible for one of the most iconic shots in finals history, which guided Cleveland to that title, he thinks his isolation prevented them from winning more.
Irving asked for a trade in the Summer of 2017, a few weeks after the Cavs had been bounced in five games by the Golden State Warriors. They sent him to Boston Celtics, bringing an end to the Irving-LeBron James combo that once looked like it could dominate the NBA for years.
Appearing on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Irving admitted that as he went through challenges he decided to internalize things, which he thinks adversely impacted their title hopes.
“If I was in the same maturity line and understanding of who I am, and I look back, we definitely, definitely would’ve won more championships," Irving said. "There would’ve been a better man-to-man understanding about what I’m going through. I didn’t know how to share my emotions, I didn’t know how to do that. So instead of sharing, I isolated myself.
“I just started pouring myself more into the game. I had one of my better seasons but I wasn’t connecting with everybody as much during the championship year. So 2017, it was a different year for us, we went against Golden State, we went against a great team. When you’re not a great team and not clicking on all cylinders and together, you’re easily defeated. You’re defeated before you can get to the arena.”
Ultimately, the Irving trade sparked the unraveling of the Cavs. They went to the finals for a fourth straight time after Irving left, but the pieces they got from the Celtics for Irving either were gone at that point or depth players. James dragged that team to the final round, only to get swept by the Warriors and in turn bolt for the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason.
Who knows how much longer the Cavs would have kept Irving and James together had the guard not asked out. And while the Warriors teams they fell to were total buzzsaws, the Cavs cashing in on just one of those three chances with Irving and James will forever be a huge missed opportunity for Cleveland.
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