Far from LeBron, closer to himself: Kyrie Irving breaks silence on his most controversial choice

Kyrie Irving reflects on his 2017 trade request from the Cavaliers. The Mavericks guard explains why he wanted to leave LeBron James and Cleveland, acknowledging his youthful mistakes while not regretting his decision.

Eight years after leaving Cleveland and LeBron James, Kyrie Irving has no regrets about his decision. The Dallas Mavericks guard recently opened up on Twitch, explaining the deep reasons behind his trade request in 2017, which came just one year after the Cavaliers‘ historic title.

« I would have loved to choose the franchise I wanted to go to… I would have loved to develop next to some of my favorite players… It’s not that I dislike playing with [LeBron] at any time. It was just literally my time to move on. »

– Kyrie Irving 😳pic.twitter.com/wrx6EVlpFC

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 13, 2025

Media pressure, too heavy a burden for young Irving

« When you play with someone like LeBron, or someone people like to compare him to… It’s a whole different context: you’re immediately expected to be at the top of the league, » Irving explained. « As soon as you play with him, there’s enormous media attention, stories, distortions, politics, stuff people don’t see in front of cameras… I was just a young player trying to understand all of that. »

The Australia native, then 25 years old, acknowledges it wasn’t about disagreeing with the « King »: « It’s not that I didn’t like playing with him at any point, but it was just my time to move on. »

Acknowledging bad habits before LeBron’s arrival

Irving also admits his mistakes regarding his early years in Cleveland, before LeBron‘s return in 2014. « As a young player, when you’re on a team that’s not winning many games, you develop a lot of bad habits and that’s exactly what happened to me when I was very young, » he admitted.

« I had many bad habits, I wasn’t a winner or a good loser and I own that: I had many bad habits. They came from losing games and constantly looking to score. I know it might have looked beautiful to everyone, with all my highlights and accolades, but all I really wanted was to win. »

Since leaving Cleveland, Irving has had mixed fortunes in Boston and Brooklyn, before reaching the NBA Finals in 2024 with Dallas, losing to the Celtics. A trajectory that validates, according to him, his decision to leave the protective but weighty shadow of LeBron James.