Months ago, LeBron James bit his tongue when Keri Irving’s comments on Kevin Durant’s podcast seemed to detract from the Los Angeles Lakers star’s late play abilities. Now, James has opened up about his ex-teammate’s attitude in the form of his podcast.
James, who appeared as a guest on the Road Trippin podcast with Richard Jefferson, Channing Fry and Ali Clifton, addressed Irving’s comments – in which Irving praised Durant as the first teammate he could trust as much as he trusted himself to take the final shot of the game – on an episode that aired on Monday on Spectrum SportsNet.
“I was like,“ Damn it. ”James said, once I got the full text, I was like,“ Damn it, ”adding that he made sure to read Irving’s comments in full before responding to them.“ I wasn’t like, ”Oh, you go. I’ve had winning shots all my life. ”I wasn’t, I was like,“ Damn it. ”Because … I’ve played with Kyrie for three seasons. [with the Cleveland Cavaliers]. The whole time I was there, I just wanted to see him as the best player in our league. I just cared about his success. And it just didn’t match. It just didn’t keep up. And we managed to win a championship. This is the craziest thing. We were still able to win the tournament, and we couldn’t line up. But I was only interested in his well-being, whether on earth or off.
“It hurt a little bit.”
Brooklyn Nets goalkeeper comments, released on the first episode of Durant’s podcast, “The Etcs”, just days before James and Lakers played the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the NBA Finals in October, omitted James’s abilities in clutch time as Irving reversed in His football career.
“There’s one thing I’ve always been comfortable with,” Irving said on the podcast, “I felt I was the best choice in every team I’ve played for in the long run.” “This is the first time in my career that I’m looking down and saying, ‘That mom can take this shot, too. And he might do that more easily.
“This is not much delay, because in previous situations where I did not take the last shot, I felt guilty. I want this match winning shot, but also, you want to trust your teammates. Not that I did not trust my teammates, but I felt I was the choice.” Best “.
Irving and James played together from 2014 to 2017, reaching three consecutive finals and winning everything in 2016. They became the first pair of teammates to score 40 points each in a final as he led Cleveland back from 3–1. Inability to defeat the Golden State Warriors.
James said the timing of Irving’s comments was as disappointing as their content.
James said, “It was an amazing time. It was an amazing time.” “Because it was the finals … the middle of the finals.”
Although James said he was accustomed to distractions as his team approached the tournament – a racist slogan was sprayed on the gate of his Los Angeles home on the eve of the 2017 Finals, for example – Irving’s comments were inevitable.
“It was always a thing that, when I was in the Finals, comes to try to distract me from my mission. So I was really prepared for that … I was always ready to find out that there was something James said or done to try to disqualify me from my mission.” “When I could see it and read it, then I got the full text and heard it, I was like, ‘Man, and —. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ … I was like, God damn it.”
James pondered his time with Irving in Cleveland, laughing when he mentioned that his son Price was “very attractive” because his father was playing on CAVES because Irving was so dominant in the video games that Price played.
James also marveled at Irving, who was only 22 years old when they joined the Cavs.
“Ky is one of the most talented players I have played with in my life. Child – I don’t even want to call him a“ kid. ”James said: He wasn’t a kid anymore, but at the time he was. He was a little kid still Growing up as a child, he was able to sit on the ground I’d never seen before. ” I had so much confidence in him. Actually, I told Kerry, I told him at some point when we were playing together that if you weren’t the best player in the league one day, you’d be short selling yourself. Because that’s how much I trust him.
“And that was part of the reason I came home. Besides unfinished work, I came home because I saw talent in it.”
James said he tried to protect Irving from scrutiny when they played together.
“Anytime the media were asking questions about Kerry – and we went through many times when the media wanted Kerry to be on – I was the blocker,” James said. “I was like, ‘No, look, you guys are driving off. This kid is small, he’s cool, he’s going to learn, I’m here to help him learn, and I know what he’s going to be. “
“And sometimes, you know, you put yourself outside, and hit your mouth when you’re not ready.”
Irving has not received a vote for MVP, let alone an award winner, since he traded with the Boston Celtics in 2017. Due to injuries, he has played in nine post-season matches in his last three campaigns – spent with Boston and Brooklyn – after playing 52 playoffs. In the three seasons he spent with James.
Shortly after Irving’s comments about James were published, the high-scores guard posted a series of videos on Twitter referring to the “false narratives” that appeared when he was seen as having been infecting James.
“Why should a brother always be against his brother … Why?” Irving said in early October. “If I’m talking to anyone, I’ll say their name. Come on, all of you. Don’t listen to false stories. Let people live their lives! It’s just a game.”
“You talk openly. You speak freely. But since we live in a clickbait community, it becomes something bigger. You don’t have to defend it. That’s just what media is … it’s entertainment. I wouldn’t do that. Let it put me against anyone anymore in Any time. Because that’s not what it’s about … You don’t have to pit me against anyone else! It was never about that. It’s about love. Peace. “
James, who signed a life contract with Nike in 2015, shared another story about Irving in his podcast, claiming he had a hand in the sportswear company developing a distinct line of sneakers for his former teammate.
“Baby gets a Nike signature shoe, we know there are little shoes out there [group]. “I mean, of all the players who have played in our league, of all the players that have been with Nike, not many players have been special,” James said. And I said, “This is a special guy. Because it’s not just his ability, what he’s doing on the ground. Not just his size. And his handle. His knob – kids love it. He’ll have a following. That’s the signature. So I was like, I told my buddies at Nike,” Yeah, If this is what you guys are thinking, stop thinking. He is a signature man. There is nothing to think about. “
The Lakers are due to host the Nets in their first team game of the season on February 18th at Staples Center.
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