The NBA landscape has shifted considerably over the past decade. Teams such as the Warriors and Cavaliers are no longer powerhouses in their respective conferences. The teams met in four consecutive NBA final of 2015-2018.
After a loss for Golden State in the NBA Finals 2017, the Cavaliers decided to split their star tent. The team kept LeBron James but exchanged Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics. Former Cavs head coach Ty Lue recently spoke with Shannon Sharpe on his podcast. Lue explained how LeBron was “crushed” when he discovered that Irving was being traded to the Celtics. He said that James would have stayed in Cleveland if Irving had never left.
Ty Lue revealed that LeBron was ‘crushed’ when the Kyrie Irving team traded
LeBron was ‘crushed’ when Kyrie was traded, by Ty Lue
“Source made a signature with sweaters for his foundation … He dropped the marker and simply puts in his chair about 10 minutes back, doesn’t say a word, as pissed off.” 💔
(Via @Clbshadshai / H/ T … pic.twitter.com/x6eddo8tu
– Nbacentral (@thedunkcentral) August 28, 2025
After a loss for the Warriors in the NBA Finals 2017, Kyrie Irving had made a decision. His former head coach, Ty Lue, said Irving was satisfied with leaving the Cavaliers. He was the first general choice of Cleveland in the 2011 design from Duke. Irving played the first six seasons of his career for the cavs and started all 381 games in which he appeared.
Ty Lue explained how upset LeBron James was when he discovered that Kyrie Irving was being traded to the Celtics. The former Cavs head coach remembered the situation with Shannon Sharpe. Lue said that James signed a signature that day. He approached LeBron with the news that Irving had just traded. James immediately dropped the marker he had in his hand and leaned back for 10 minutes with an irritated look. He was “crushed” when the team said goodbye to Irving.
– 2x NBA champion as a player for the Los Angeles Lakers
-NBA champion as head coach of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who had returned the largest in the history of NBA and beat the Golden State Warriors after falling 3-1. And don’t forget that Warriors team has the best … pic.twitter.com/bujgfmh9wv
– Club Shay (@clubShayShay) August 27, 2025
In the years since this trade of the low season 2017, Kyrie Irving talked about his decision to leave the team. Irving explained how playing with James attracts a different kind of attention from the media. Over time, this weighed on Irving, and he decided it was his time to continue Lebron James as a teammate. Only a season after Kyrie Irving Cleveland left, LeBron James followed the example and landed with the Lakers.
Would Cleveland have won another championship if Irving had not continued after 2018? James was able to return Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2018, but they were swept in four games by the Warriors. The cavs would certainly have been more competitive in the final if they had Irving. On the way to the 2025-26 season, James is a member of the Lakers and Irving the Mavericks.
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