Kyrie Irving is renowned for having exceptional ball-handling abilities that are nearly unrivaled. Irving’s fame and effectiveness on the court can be attributed to his ability to control the ball. LeBron James, his former teammate with the Cleveland Cavaliers, got a closer look at how the All-Star guard handled the ball.
Surprisingly, their former teammate, Brendan Haywood revealed that Irving wanted James to improve his handles. Haywood, who played with the Cavs during the 2014-15 NBA season, revealed on “Run Your Race” that the former Duke star had plans to help the 6-foot-9 star improve a specific skill.
“We’re playing against the [San Antonio] Spurs,” Haywood recalled. “I think Kyrie’s out that game, and Bron tried to go behind the back. [Manu] Ginobili picks him for the game. And he said it loud enough so people on the bench could hear — he was just talkin’ to me, but he truly meant it. He said, ‘Ahh, man, Bron’s gotta get with me in the offseason and work on his handle.’
“… But he didn’t mean no harm, but that’s how he viewed it, like, ‘Yo, like, bro need to come work with me real quick.’ We lookin’ around like, ‘Are you sure?’ … But that’s the confidence, though. … He believes, like, ‘Yo, I’m in there with Bron. I’m in there with K.D. (Kevin Durant). I’m that level.’ And I’m glad that Kyrie thinks that way.”
Kyrie Irving wanted LeBron James to get with him in the gym to work on his handles: https://t.co/hqDUrU8N8G
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 12, 2024
As a younger star behind James, Haywood commended Irving’s mindset. James is a famous player, but the point guard never thought of himself as less than his star colleague.
Former Cavs coach believes LeBron James and Kyrie Irving would’ve won more titles if they didn’t break up their partnership
LeBron James played alongside Irving for three seasons, winning one title with the Cavs in 2016. Together, they led the Cavs to contention but faced the superteam of the Golden State Warriors during the 2016-17 season, ending their team-up.
Their former head coach, Ty Lue, appeared as a guest on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on Dec. and told the ESPN reporter that James and Irving could’ve won more titles had they stayed together.
“No question, no doubt,” Lue said (26:15). “It did become harder once Golden State acquired Kevin Durant… Once they got KD, that was tough but I thought after we won the championship in 2016 we kind of had the blueprint (of) how we wanted to attack Golden State. How we wanted to guard and defend them.”
Together, James and Irving only won one title. The point guard forced a trade out of Cleveland and became the leader of the Boston Celtics. James, meanwhile, was left with Kevin Love and led Cleveland back to the finals for the fourth straight time in 2018.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
