Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard, Kyrie Irving
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard, Kyrie Irving
Kyrie Irving entered the NBA with the first-overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He landed with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a result. Irving spent six years with the Cavaliers, winning a championship in 2016.
His time in Ohio came to an end when he was shipped to the Boston Celtics in return for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a 2018 unprotected first-round pick.
During a recent livestream, Irving shared his thoughts on his time with the Cavaliers franchise. He discussed being drafted by the team and the toll being part of a losing franchise took on his overall development.
“To have started my career with… I love Cleveland, don’t get me wrong. I’m appreciative of all the things that they’ve done for me, but at the same time, I would’ve loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to,” Irving said. “…I would’ve loved to develop next to some of my favorite players and some of my favorite people because being a young player, when you’re on a team that’s not winning a lot of games – it’s a lot of bad habits that form, and that’s what ended up happening to me when I was very young.”
Irving continued.
“I had a lot of bad habits; I was not a winner; I was not a good loser at all; I take my accountability; I had a lot of bad habits as a young player, and that came from losing games and just trying to get buckets all the time.”
Kyrie Irving reflects on the early stages of his NBA career
“I had a lot of bad habits as a young player, and that came from losing games and just trying to get buckets all the time… When I’m done playing, you guys will hear the real story.” pic.twitter.com/CcrL61MJkk
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) August 9, 2025
During his time with the Cavaliers, Irving was named the Rookie of the Year and a four-time All-Star. His featured role within the offense allowed him to flourish into a top guard talent in the NBA.
Irving Squashes Rumors He Left Because of LeBron
During the same livestream, Irving explained that he didn’t leave the Cavaliers due to a rift with LeBron James. Instead, the veteran guard believes it was just his time to move on from the franchise.
“It’s not that I disliked playing with Bron at any time; it was just literally my time to move on, and that’s what people gotta accept,” Irving said. “They want a deeper detail, dive in terms of what happened, but it’s like it was my time to move on. I don’t care if I’m remembered as that person; it was my decision.”
Since leaving Cleveland, Irving has found himself in multiple trade rumors linking him with a reunion with LeBron. However, to this point, that hasn’t materialized.
LeBron Urged to Rejoin Cavaliers
Irving has found a home with the Dallas Mavericks. Yet, it would appear that LeBron’s tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers is drawing to a close. During an August 8 episode of ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith urged LeBron to consider returning to the Cavaliers for a third run with the franchise.
“Getting specifically to LeBron…Why don’t you just come back to Cleveland and end your career?” Smith said. “This cannot be disputed, he’d have a better chance of winning the championship in Cleveland than he would in L.A…You come back to Cleveland. You bring the chip back to Cleveland, and you say goodbye as a five-time champion…If LeBron was back in Cleveland, Cleveland is the favorite.”
Bringing LeBron back to Cleveland this summer is highly unlikely. As a second apron luxury tax team, there’s a host of restrictions that would make a reunion near impossible. However, if both LeBron and Koby Altman might be interested in one final run together. Bringing him back next summer wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility.