Kyrie Irving 'Appreciated' LeBron James' Comments, Misses Playing Together

Dallas' superstar guard had nothing but great things to say about playing with LeBron James

Feb 26, 2023; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) guards Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (2) during the fourth quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Wednesday marked the first day of the national media press conference for the NBA Finals, as multiple Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics took turns answering questions. Once Kyrie Irving took the podium, the first question he received was about his former teammate LeBron James.

"Is that the first question?" Kyrie Irving chuckled. "Oh, God, I love it. Got to love this, man."

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James gave high praise to Irving on his "Mind The Game" podcast, calling him a "wizard" and that he's "so f*****g mad that I am not his running mate anymore." He's probably feeling a little disappointed that his Lakers lost in the first round while Irving is about to play in the NBA Finals.

Irving saw the comments and when asked about his thoughts, he responded " I mean, I have a great reaction. It's appreciated. There's a lot of gratitude there, as well. I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little bit younger. Now that I'm able to vocalize how I feel as a man, be comfortable in it, stand on my square, my beliefs, where I'm coming from, I feel like our relationship's different because of that now. Definitely miss him. Playing out there, just making things easier, being able to run up and down the floor, just throw the ball to somebody like that, throw it in the air, as athletic as they come... Shout-out to LeBron for that. Knows how to stir up a media storm, get everybody in here talking about us. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the future and getting this series started now."

Both players have come a long way since Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics in 2017. James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2018 offseason, winning a championship in the 2020 Bubble, and became the NBA's all-time leading scorer, passing the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Irving, meanwhile, signed with the Brooklyn Nets after two seasons in Boston and wore out his welcome in Brooklyn. After three and a half seasons there, he was traded to Dallas at the 2023 trade deadline, where is now thriving alongside Luka Doncic.

At the time Irving was traded away from Cleveland, he wanted to prove he could lead a team without being in the shadow of LeBron James. Now that he's grown and matured and can see things from a different perspective, it had to have been thrilling to play with one of the greatest players this game has ever seen at the peak of his powers, winning a championship together in 2016. They made history together and Irving is hoping he can replicate it with Luka Doncic.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals starts Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CST in Boston.

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