Kyrie Irving says he shares championship ‘bond that can’t be broken’ with LeBron James
USA Today
During the NBA offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers were coming off a loss to the Golden State Warriors for the second time in three years. The LeBron James-led Cavs were trying to figure out how to put the right pieces together in order to come back stronger during the 2018-19 NBA season and contend with Kevin Durant and company.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, Kyrie Irving let it be known that he wanted out. The up-and-coming superstar wanted to branch out on his own and stop living in LeBron’s shadow while wearing a Cavs uniform. This sent shockwaves throughout the team and the NBA with Cleveland eventually comes to terms on a deal with the Boston Celtics.
Now in Boston, Irving has his Celtics flying high atop the Eastern Conference with the Cavs struggling to keep up. Ironically enough, the one-time NBA champion will soon be playing alongside his former teammates in the All-Star Game with LeBron picking him to play on his team along with Kevin Love. Irving claims the two have a bond that simply can’t be broken, via ESPN’s Chris Forsberg.
“I think you’ve heard it if you’ve talked to championship winners before, but when you’re on a championship team, it’s just a bond that can’t be broken forever,” Irving said. “Just going through that, the way we created history — we’re the only team in history to come back from 3-1. And that’s something that will be etched in NBA history for life.
“And that’s always a connection, something that we can always reminisce about no matter what. It’s an incredible bond that we built as a team, individually being tested at the highest level, and doing something that you can remember for the rest of your life and tell your kids about.”
LeBron, Irving, and Love will take on an opposing team chosen by Stephen Curry of the Warriors. Although Curry’s squad is talented, James’ is thought to be far superior, but this is the All-Star Game we’re talking about where competition seems to go out the window.
As for the Celtics and Cavs, these two teams seem to be headed in opposite directions. Cleveland is once again struggling to make things work while Boston has been the best team in the conference even with the loss of Gordon Hayward to an ankle injury in the season opener to the Cavs.
Despite the Celtics being ahead of the Cavs in the standings, Cleveland still has the better odds to win the East this season. LeBron’s success over the years is clearly still a factor as he’s been in the NBA Finals every season in the East going all the back to his first year with the Miami Heat.
