Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics from the Cleveland Cavaliers on this day in 2017, and LeBron James was devastated by it.
Just one year on from winning the NBA championship alongside LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade.
Irving had just been to the NBA Finals, but wanted to get out of James’ shadow and lead his own team. He requested a trade just months after his third straight Finals appearance.
The trade shook the basketball landscape, and James’ former coach recently revealed that the news devastated the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Here, we look back at the trade.
Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty ImagesKyrie Irving traded from LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers to the Boston Celtics
Irving was traded to the Celtics to lead one of the NBA’s most successful franchises back to title contention. He demanded a trade in July and was released from the team in August, being swapped for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a first-round pick.
The Celtics were immediately title contenders. That was until Irving’s sidekick Gordon Hayward broke his leg on opening night against the Cavs. Irving did lead the Celtics to a 16-game winning streak, their longest since 2001, but he underwent knee surgery to rule him out for the season.
Boston Celtics recivesCleveland Cavaliers receiveKyrie Irving Isaiah ThomasJae CrowderAnte Zizic2018 First Round Pick (from Boston Celtics, via Brooklyn Nets)
In another blow to Irving’s star status, Boston reached the Eastern Conference Finals without him, only to lose to the Cavaliers in seven games after a legendary run from James.
In 2018, he said on court in front of Celtics fans, “If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.” However, his relationship with the Celtics ultimately deteriorated, and he signed with the Brooklyn Nets, alongside Kevin Durant, in 2019.
Irving is still booed on his return to Boston. He has since lost the 2024 NBA Finals to the Celtics alongside Luka Doncic for the Dallas Mavericks. Now, Irving is set to play alongside number one pick Cooper Flagg in Dallas.
But things could have been so different if he had simply stayed in Cleveland.
LeBron James was ‘crushed’ when the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Kyrie Irving
The Cleveland head Coach at the time of Irving’s trade was current Los Angeles Clippers coach Ty Lue, who won the title with the Cavs in 2016. He revealed James’ reaction to finding out his co-star was traded away.
On the Club Shay Shay Podcast, he said, “Bron’s doing an autograph signing with jerseys and stuff for his foundation.
“So I come sit next to ‘Bron. We sitting there, handed the phone, SportsCenter: ‘Kyrie Irving has just been traded to the Boston Celtics’. Bron dropped the marker. Just lays back in his chair for about 10 minutes, doesn’t say a word, like just p___d off, and Bron was crushed.”
Lue said he didn’t think it was anything personal. Irving simply wanted to see if he could lead a team. He continued, “I don’t think it was any ill-will against Bron, it was just something he wanted to do for his career.”
The Irving trade changed the course of NBA history. James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers one season later, won the 2020 championship, and broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record. He’s now one of the all-time great Lakers.
If Irving had never left, James may well have finished his career with his home state Cavaliers.