LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were arguably the greatest duos in the NBA when they were with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They helped the team win their first-ever championship in 2016 and were part of the team that went to four straight NBA Finals.
While LeBron James took away all the limelight with his dominant performance in the playoffs, Kyrie Irving stood tall in big moments and had one of the best three-pointers in recent memory to win the 2016 championship.
Both were brilliant together and made the players around them better, but in 2018 Irving felt the need to leave James and be the star on his own team.
He was traded to the Boston Celtics and former teammate Kendrick Perkins believes there was a reason behind that.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesIrving did not want to be mentored by James
By the time James returned to Cleveland, Irving was an All-Star, but he was unable to lead the Cavaliers into the playoffs as he was still young.
James’ arrival massively turned things around for the franchise, as the culture changed and they became championship contenders instantly.
Having left the team in 2010 after his first stint, James had returned as a two-time champion with the Miami Heat and was arguably the best player in the world.
According to Perkins, Irving did not want to be mentored by James as he ‘idolized’ Kobe Bryant.
Photo by: 2016 Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
Speaking on the Road Trippin podcast, the former player said: “He idolized and looked up to Kobe so much that he wouldn’t give Bron a chance to be the big brother figure.
“Even when y’all won it, I wasn’t there, but I’m just keeping it real, Kyrie never looked at Bron like that big brother, Kobe was that big brother to Kyrie.
“So like when he burned off, it wasn’t surprising to me although I wasn’t there, I was like ‘Damn, they tripping, they could have ran off a few more,’ but he was tired of being under the shadow, Bron could never really get that arm around Kyrie, cause Kyrie didn’t allow him to in my opinion.”
Irving and James could have won more championships
Irving and James complemented each other’s games really well. Even though James needed the ball to operate, he never got in the way of Irving.
On the other hand, the attention both these stars were drawing became beneficial to their teammates as it gave them a lot of open looks.
The likes of Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love were the players around them playing key roles and this made the Cavaliers a difficult side to beat.
James went on to win another championship with the LA Lakers, but Irving has gone to multiple teams and struggled to make a deep playoff run.
Tyronn Lue told the story of a “pissed off” LeBron James after finding out Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics in 2017:
“Bron was doing an autograph signing with jerseys for his foundation… he dropped the marker & just lays back in his chair for about 10 minutes,… pic.twitter.com/dZR5XgQK7v
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) August 28, 2025
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Before Luka Doncic‘s arrival, James did not really have a point guard like Irving and wanted to team up with him, but things just never worked out.
Ty Lue revealed how disappointed James was after Irving’s trade was officially announced.
While the sample size of four years was enough to understand a duo of James and Irving was championship level, the question of how many more they could have added had they stayed together will always remain.