It will go down in NBA lore that the almighty LeBron James’ reign as King of the basketball world came to an abrupt end when one of his own teammates, Kyrie Irving, made a surprising request to Cleveland management to trade him. Irving wanted to seek out his own superstar path on another team. The Cavs ended up dealing Irving to Eastern Conference rival Boston Celtics for Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets 1st round pick in 2018.
LeBron James will not win another NBA championship. His window was slammed shut as soon as Irving made his demand.
Batman’s Robin for the hero’s second glorious run in Cleveland betrayed him. Many people in the basketball universe wondered how this trade would affect LBJ and the Cavaliers going forward. Many only thought about the short-term impact on the upcoming season and whether fans would see a trilogy of the vaunted GS-Cle matchup. My mind immediately went to the longevity of Lebron’s championship window, and the fact that LeBron James will not win another NBA championship. His window was slammed shut as soon as Irving made his demand.
The decision caused a rippling effect on both the career of Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. Why did Irving leave the most dominant player in NBA history? This is pretty much a guarantee for a shot at an NBA championship for, at the very least, four more years (maybe more) of LeBron’s career. This may not seem as a logical decision for Irving, but it may be his best path.
LBJ will end up with the current three rings that he has, while Kyrie will end up winning four more with the Celtics to secure five total rings. This prediction has nothing to do with LeBron’s unreal amount of talent, freakish athleticism, and ability to control an NBA basketball game. LeBron needed Kyrie Irving to achieve a dynastic level run in Cleveland. Throughout his career, LeBron James has needed an elite two-way scorer to complement him in order to win championship rings.
A two-way scorer is a player who can score off the dribble and also off the ball while LeBron so steadily controls the pace of the game. He lacked this type of player in Cleveland during his first run there and bolted to Miami where the savvy Dwayne Wade was still in his prime. Then in his return to Cleveland, he embraced another one of these elite scorers in Kyrie Irving. LeBron James thrives in a team built this way. Isaiah Thomas is a great scoring guard without a doubt, but his style of play differs from what fans witnessed from Miami’s Wade, and more recently Kyrie Irving. IT dominates the ball, mostly in pick and roll situations, but struggles off the ball in other situations, such as a catch-and-shoot scenario. No disrespect to the man, but he is no Kyrie Irving.
Not only is the West stacked with championship-caliber teams, the east has a team budding with young dynamic talent led by guess who? Kyrie Irving
LBJ is 33 years old, and even arguably the greatest athlete of this generation will eventually slow down. Four more years of MVP level basketball is reasonable and realistic. These remaining years now become much more taxing on LBJ (if he stays in Cleveland) as the Cavs are just not as good which can be seen by their current standing in the Eastern Conference. Winning an NBA championship is an extremely difficult task that can’t be overcome by LeBron James again as he will end his career as it stands currently with a respectable three NBA championships.
The departure of Irving also crippled the future of the franchise as the 25-year old dynamo was poised to carry the torch and provide Cleveland with championship caliber teams for a very long time.
In an Era where fans are witnessing a seemingly unstoppable dynasty in the Golden State Warriors along with a stacked Western Conference where the Rockets look to mimicking the San Francisco blueprint. Add the Oklahoma City Thunder into the mix with a scary big-three combination, and the route to an NBA title coming out of the East is without a doubt a perilous one.
Lebron, whether it be with the Cavs or another team, will not be in an ideal situation to capture title number four. Not only is the West stacked with championship-caliber teams, the east has a team budding with young dynamic talent led by guess who? Kyrie Irving.
The pot currently brewing in Boston represents an opportunity for Irving to capture more NBA titles than the King himself.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the budding Boston Celtics roster. Two proven stars currently reside in Gordon Hayward (Age 28) & Kyrie Irving (Age 25). The rest of their roster is full of players with tremendous upside. It can be quickly determined that it is built for long-term dominance.
Jaylen Brown (Age 22) is quickly blossoming into a dynamic two-way wing player who can dominate both sides of the ball. He will thrive in Coach Stevens’ system. In fact, with Coach Stevens, he will be an even better player than already expected. Jayson Tatum (Age 20) may very well have been the best player in the previous draft (aside from maybe Donovan Mitchell). He is proving dependable as an athletic and clutch player with a sweet three-point stroke as a rookie. Though inexperienced, he has posted a shooting line of 48 FG% / 43 3P% / 81 FT%. Tatum is quickly showing more potential than both Lonzo Ball and Markelle Fultz, who were selected in front of him. If this isn’t enough supreme young talent on this roster, throw in the tenacious Marcus Smart (Age 24) who appears to be the guy that can lockdown opposing backcourts for the foreseeable future.
The path to another championship for the aging James has suddenly become dire. He will end up with three, and it will be long debated whether he was greatest to ever do it. Legacy aside, the landscape of the NBA has shifted to powers even the almighty King cannot defeat. The pot currently brewing in Boston represents an opportunity for Irving to capture more NBA titles than the King himself.