Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving says he has no regrets about the decision that changed the course of his career.
While discussing his 2017 trade request from the Cleveland Cavaliers, which sent him to the Boston Celtics, Irving explained that playing alongside LeBron James brought a level of attention and scrutiny that ultimately pushed him to seek a new chapter.
“When you’re playing with someone like [James]… It’s a different animal,” Irving said during a recent Twitch stream. “You’re automatically expected to be at the top of the league… a lot of media attention, a lot of narratives, spun narratives, politics, a lot of s— that people don’t see in front of the camera. And for me I was just a young person trying to figure it out. It’s not that I disliked playing with [James]… it was just literally my time to move on.”
Kyrie Irving Talks Finding His Own Path
Irving’s request came just a year after the Cavaliers completed a historic comeback from a 3–1 deficit to beat the 73–9 Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. In three seasons with James, Cleveland reached the Finals each year.
Looking back, Irving admitted he lacked the maturity to navigate James’ 2014 return to Cleveland, when the franchise formed a Big 3 with Kevin Love.
“I would’ve loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to,” Irving said. “Being a young player… it’s a lot of bad habits that form, and that’s what ended up happening to me when I was very young. I was not a winner, I was not a good loser at all. I take my accountability… all I really wanted to do was win.”
Life After Cleveland
Since leaving the Cavaliers, Irving has played for the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and Mavericks. His Dallas tenure has included a run to the 2024 NBA Finals, where the Mavericks fell to Boston in five games.
Although he hasn’t won another championship, Irving says he remains content with how his career has unfolded.
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