NBA Finals Disrupted: LeBron & Kyrie’s Disruptive Claims Amidst the Finals
NBA Updates PH: Kyrie Irving should handle it. It’s not good enough to ruin basketball teams now. Now he’s teaming up with LeBron James to try to put a damper on the NBA Finals.
The Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat are now locked 1-1 in the NBA Finals, with Game 3 set for Wednesday. The NBA would prefer to improve the Finals’ ratings, as they have been lower than those for the previous two conference finals.
Therefore, it must be especially galling that LeBron and Kyrie have once again found a way to hog the spotlight, divert attention away from the rest of the NBA, and make this moment more about themselves than the NBA.
“This is what LeBron does,” one NBA insider who has worked with LeBron said. As the saying goes, “He just can’t help himself.”
Likewise with Kyrie.
The Athletic reported on Monday that soon-to-be free agent Kyrie Irving had contacted James to gauge his interest in reuniting with Irving in Dallas.
The fact that it comes right in the middle of a series that fans should be interested in but isn’t yet is just one of many reasons why this is ridiculous.
Aside from Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks have little value to offer the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for an unsigned LeBron James.
Again: These are ridiculous claims.
Since Dallas does not have any players or draft picks that Los Angeles would even remotely consider, the only way this could happen is if the Lakers bought out LeBron James and allowed him to freely, without return, head to Dallas under the new CBA.
I’ll say it again: this is completely ridiculous.
Irving or James (or both) ensured that this purportedly private chat reached a newsmaker whose every word was now part of the story.
It’s important to remember that James has been quite public about his desire to reunite with Irving on the court, so even if Kyrie did leak this information, it was probably with LeBron’s blessing.
According to NBA league insiders, Irving’s message to the Lakers was something like, “Pay me if you want me, and expect no discounts.” This whole thing is about leverage or the mistaken belief that one or both of these studs can capture it.
“LeBron’s not going to Dallas,” the source stated. You have my utmost disbelief. For the record, Kyrie has made it clear to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka that he would not negotiate a lower salary. And about how LeBron James was trying to gain an advantage.
The irony here is layered upon irony.
Years ago, Irving was the first to leave Cleveland quickly after winning a championship with LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Many others saw his departure as a betrayal, and in the wake of it, he took indirect and direct jabs at LeBron.
After that, Irving never achieved even a fraction of his previous success. As soon as he went, the Celtics improved. The Brooklyn Nets put a lot of stock in him, and it all came crashing down when James Harden pushed his way off the team one year.
Kevin Durant is currently playing in Phoenix, James Harden is mulling over whether to remain in Philadelphia or return to Houston, and Kyrie Irving is currently playing in Dallas. Still, he is open to dashing their hopes, too.
Even from LeBron’s perspective, there is irony. Although I consider King James the greatest player of all time in basketball, his career as a shadow general manager has been virtually as disastrous as his playing career.
The recent trade deadline is a perfect example of that. Since James’ most recent scheme, the Russell Westbrook experiment had failed miserably, Pelinka was free to conduct business without being constrained by the King’s ill-considered edicts.
Wow, that’s an idea: a GM who gets to be a GM.
The Lakers’ late-season resurrection may be attributed to the acquisitions of Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley, a quartet that isn’t exactly eye candy. Between the February 9 trade deadline and the completion of the regular season, they held the best record in the Western Conference and the fourth-best record in the NBA as a whole.
They followed that up by reaching the WCF as well.
To attempt and force a reunion that, like most of LeBron’s plans and all of Kyrie’s, will turn out to be a complete and utter disaster, James and Irving have leaked a secret plan between them in June while the Finals are in full gear.
These two superstars are in the middle of an NBA Finals that should be the focus of everyone’s attention. Yet, they are instead weaving a look-at-me, not-so-subtle, not-gonna-work leverage play that will only serve to further inflict harm on whichever team next year acquires Kyrie.
The unspoken rule is to not interfere with the game’s main attraction.
Therefore, Adam Silver told the Denver media last week that he would not reveal the “additional information” the NBA discovered and the ensuing penalty for Ja Morant until after the Finals. That’s why a lot of NBA updates will be coming later.
However, this has always been the style of play for LeBron and Kyrie. That’s something they share in common, at least. That requirement, or perhaps lack of consciousness, to make themselves the center of attention in situations meant for others.
We could have waited for this distraction. According to numerous NBA insiders and common sense, the idea that LeBron would play for the Mavericks next season is as far-fetched as the concept that LeBron genuinely considered retirement when the Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets a few weeks ago.
Yet here we were again, discussing the pathetic Lakers instead of the historic first-ever Finals participation by Denver and the incredible two-time MVP performance by Nikola Jokic.
Again, we have a bunch of inane blather that diverts attention from the issues at hand while inadvertently bringing up points its proponents would rather we didn’t consider, such as the fact that LeBron James is still shockingly bad at off-court basketball maneuvers and the fact that Kyrie Irving is not worth the trouble.
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