Irving doesn t want to be the second leader next to James, so he left, it s a pity

On July 19, in the summer of 2017, the news that Kyrie Irving took the initiative to apply for a trade to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers shocked the entire NBA. This young point guard who just joined forces with LeBron James to bring the first championship in the team history to the Cavaliers, insists on getting rid of his identity as the "second leader". Now eight years have passed, 34-year-old Irving is willing to assist Luca Doncic in the Dallas Mavericks. This dramatic life twist has become the most interesting "if" proposition in the NBA in recent years.

###1. Undercurrents behind glory: The power game behind the 2016 championship

In the last 53 seconds of the 2016 finals, when Irving hit the quasi-final three-pointer that was recorded in history, no one expected that this pair of golden combination would part ways a year later. According to ESPN senior reporter Brian Vinhorst, as early as the championship celebration, Irving told his close friends: "This trophy proves that I can lead the team alone." This mentality continues to ferment in the following seasons - when James holds a player meeting in the locker room, Irving will deliberately sit in the farthest corner; during the team's training, he began to openly question Tyron Lu's tactical arrangements. An internal assessment report by the Cavaliers management at the time showed that the 25-year-old Irving averaged 25.2 points per game and did reach the superstar threshold, but his defensive efficiency was only ranked 42nd in the league's point guard. More importantly, when James left the court to rest, the Cavaliers lost 7.3 points per 100 rounds, which completely shakes the management's idea of "rebuilding with Irving as the core". Former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin recalled in a podcast: "We tried to retain him with a four-year contract extension of 90 million yuan, but what he wanted was never money. "

###2. Running into Boston: The cruel collision between ideals and reality

After switching to the Celtics, Irving boasted at a press conference that "we want to become the leader of this traditional wealthy family", but reality quickly hit him hard. In the 2018 playoffs, the Celtics, who lacked Irving, fought all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, but when he returned to the 2018-19 season, serious conflicts broke out in the team's locker room. Famous reporter Shams Charania revealed that Irving had left the scene in public due to Hayward's last shot arrangement. This season, his average of 23.8 points per game seems to be impressive, but his shooting percentage is only 34.1% at critical moments, ranking 87th in the league.

Meanwhile, James, who traveled far away to Los Angeles, is experiencing a completely different story. In the 2019-20 season, 35-year-old James took the initiative to hand over the offensive leadership to Anthony Davis and transformed himself into a master of field control. This transformation has an immediate effect - the Lakers won the championship in the season and James won the fourth FMVP trophy. NBA legend Barkley said bluntly on the TNT show: "LeBron proves the ultimate form of a great leader, and Kyrie is still learning how to become a qualified second-in-command. "

###3. Dallas' Awakening: Survival Wisdom Hardened by Time

After joining the Mavericks in 2023, Irving showed a surprising transformation. Facing the 23-year-old Doncic, he took the initiative to adjust his playing style: his average shot per game dropped to 17.7 times (19.7 times during the Cavaliers), but his assists increased to 5.8 times. More importantly, when Doncic rested, he led the substitute's net efficiency to +4.3, which was -2.1 in the Nets period. Mavericks coach Kidd commented: "Kerry now knows how to influence the game in different ways, which is the awareness of the champion puzzle players. "

Behind this transformation is the cruel law of age. Sports science data shows that the 32-year-old defender's breakthrough speed has dropped by 12% on average, and Irving's penalty area score has dropped from 38% during the Cavaliers period to 27%. But he developed a 41.2% three-point shooting percentage (career high), which was the skill upgrade that the Cavaliers needed the most back then. NBA analyst Kevin Pelton pointed out: "If Irving in 2017 had the current shooting choice, the Cavaliers might be able to cross the Warriors dynasty. "

###4. Parallel time and space assumptions: Another way that was not selected

When the Mavericks entered the Western Conference Finals in 2024, the broadcaster gave a set of intriguing data: the James-Irving combination played a 68.3% playoff winning rate between 2014 and 17, higher than any duo in the same period. What is even more sad is that after Irving left, all the chips (Thomas Jr., Claude, etc.) obtained by the Cavaliers left the team within half a year, and James also ran away from Los Angeles in 2018.

Former Cavaliers teammate Shampoo revealed in the podcast: "LeBron once said that as long as Carey stays, he will live in Cleveland." This statement was confirmed by James' business partner Maverick Carter. Considering the long-lasting peak state James showed in the Lakers (still selected for the best team in 2023-24), if Irving stays in the team, the Cavaliers may indeed establish more lasting competitiveness. After all, after 2017, there were no more super teams in the Eastern Conference that beat the Warriors level.

###5. Personal choices in the torrent of the times

From a psychological perspective, Owen's transformation confirms Erikson's "Eight-stage Theory of Personality Development" - Individuals around 35 years old experience from "self-identity" to "reproduction and care". His words and deeds at the Mavericks also prove this: he actively guides young players and publicly praises Doncic for "a better leader than me." This maturity may have come too late, but in the end, it allowed the world to see another life trajectory that the young man who celebrating with James in the last moment of the 2016 Finals G7 might have embarked on.

Looking back in 2025, Irving's story has become a classic case of the NBA's ambitions and compromises. As he said after eliminating the Thunder in the second round of the playoffs this year: "Now I understand that greatness does not have to be written by myself, participating in greatness is glory in itself." This sentence may be the life lesson that the young man who insisted on leaving eight years ago needs to understand the most.. And that proposition about "if" will eventually become one of the most thought-provoking assumptions in basketball history as time goes by.