LeBron James has known Kyrie Irving for years. He's been a mentor for the young Cleveland Cavaliers point guard since he was a freshman at Duke. Irving has spoken of seeking out James for advice on his adjustment to the NBA both on and off the court.
So the fact that he and James aren't getting along 100 percent is a little surprising. James has made several comments this week about "bad habits" that have set in on the Cavs over the last couple of years, and as Irving has been the constant since James left in 2011, it's not shocking who James is talking about, along with Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson.
ESPN reports that James and Irving had a tough conversation in the locker room Tuesday night after a blowout loss to the Blazers, that is deemed "healthy." Irving left without speaking to the media.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving exchanged words in the Cleveland Cavaliers' locker room following the team's 20-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, and it led to Irving leaving quickly without speaking to the media, multiple sources told ESPN.com.
The discussion was seen as healthy, sources said, with the veteran James voicing concerns about the direction of the Cavs' offense. James scored just 11 points against the Blazers and did not score in the second half and was often not a part of the offense. Cleveland is off to a 1-3 start following a last-second loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
"There's a lot of bad habits, a lot of bad habits been built up the past couple years," James said to the media moments after the exchange. "When you play that style of basketball, it takes a lot to get it up out of you."
via LeBron James, Kyrie Irving reportedly exchange words on state of Cleveland Cavaliers' offense - ESPN.
Teammates had a dispute, they talked about it, and Kyrie probably left feeling a little scolded. That's tough. It's also not a sign that the team is "dysfunctional" or "coming apart at the seams."
It is weird, though. Consider this from earlier in the week, where after the Portland loss coach David Blatt praised Irving for his offense, and Irving essentially stuck up for his scoring focus. Then James gives him a backhanded compliment "As far as his scoring..." From ESPN:
"I thought he was a lot more aggressive on offense tonight," coach David Blatt said when asked about Irving. "I thought that he made it a point to come out tonight with a kind of a fire and a sense of urgency that perhaps we didn't see last night, and I thought he did a great job. I thought he played defense for good parts of the game very well, and he played a lot of minutes. He laid it out there tonight, so I'm pretty happy with him."
Even though Cleveland, now 1-3, came up short thanks to Gordon Hayward hitting a jumper at the buzzer after James had tied it up with three free throws with 3.4 seconds left, Irving showed no remorse about his approach afterward.
"Just taking what the defense gave me, not necessarily any calls," Irving said of what he was running on offense. "Whatever the defense was giving me, I was willing to take. I was just trying to collapse the defense."
He also collapsed James' desire to publicly critique him, at least for the time being.
"Well, I mean, as far as his scoring, it was big time," James said of Irving's night. "He made all the shots we needed to keep us in the game. He made some great plays down the stretch, finished above the rim. It was great."
via Kyrie Irving doubles down in response to LeBron James - ESPN.
That's a big ball of weird.
And if James' issue with Irving was his focus on scoring, then Wednesday's loss to the Jazz probably didn't make things any better. Irving scored 34 points (great!) and had zero assists (not so great). He passed 63 times according to the NBA's SportVU data, the most of any Cavalier, but the Cavs had 276 passes overall to the Jazz' 442.
That's 166 more passes for Utah.
LeBron and Irving aren't beefing. It's a disagreement, and the odds are they figure it out. But how this reads is that James told Irving to chill out with looking for his own shot and run the offense... and then Irving went and shot 23 times. Would the Cavs be better if Irving passed more? Probably not. Would they be better if he played with more purpose and with better awareness of the overall offense? Probably.
Either way, it's a fascinating mini-storyline very early on this season.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving aren't on the same page. (Getty)
Basketball Hot News
Mark Cuban: Mavericks’ roster has included alcoholic player
NBA players live nocturnal schedules during the season. They leave work late at night, and their body clocks are programmed that way for off days, too. They’re awake when going to the bar is one of the main leisure activities available, and their salaries allow them to afford it.
Opportunities certainly exist for players to drink too much.
And, of course, there are players naturally predisposed to alcoholism. For some, a conducive schedule isn’t a prerequisite for drinking too much.
Add it all up, and the NBA – like any business – has had its share of employees with drinking problems.
Greg Oden described himself as an “alcoholic” while he was in Portland, and Jordan Hill admitted drinking limited his production. Vin Baker is one of the most famous cases of alcoholism ruining a player’s career. Keith Closs has his own horror stories.
More players than we’ll ever know have had their careers significantly and negatively impacted by drinking.
But that doesn’t mean the league should abandon anyone who’s had a problem.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, via Kenneth Arthur of Rolling Stone:
We have a team psychologist who spends time with all of our guys. While he won’t divulge specifics, we do discuss whether or not there are red flags regarding a player’s personal, professional or social life. We’ve had a functioning alcoholic on the team in the past and we put together plans and programs to help him. We’ve had other issues when we have asked the player to leave the team.
Good for the Mavericks.
Teams invest millions in dollars of players, and too often, they’ve let the players sink or swim on their own. Alcoholism needn’t be a death sentence nor a career ender. It helps when someone with the disease has support, and credit the Mavericks for providing it.
Should teams have concerns about players with a history of drinking problems? Of course. But that concern shouldn’t override everything else.
I have no idea which player Cuban is referring to, but I’ll guess two things:
1. He benefitted in life from the Mavericks’ program to help him.
2. The Mavericks benefitted on the court from having him healthy.
I hope other teams are as proactive about helping their players, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be. In the long run, everyone comes out ahead.
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