Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t buy the idea that a LeBron James return to Cleveland was ever really on the table if Kyrie Irving was part of the equation.
On the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal weighed in after Adam Lefkoe brought up the report that James seriously considered going back to the Cavaliers and wanted Irving there with him.
“Yeah, but it could have happened. Yeah, we grown now, dog.”
That was Iman Shumpert’s view, but O’Neal pushed back hard.
“Him and Kyrie ain’t rocking like that no more.”
When Lefkoe noted, “He would know more than us,” O’Neal doubled down: “I know he know, but I know too.”
Shumpert then added, “Yeah, but it could have happened. Yeah, we grown now, dog.”
O’Neal wasn’t budging. “Kyrie ain’t letting that happen.”
Shumpert, who played with both James and Irving on the Cavaliers, pointed out that Irving wouldn’t have had final say anyway. The Mavericks could trade him without his approval, since the 34-year-old does not have a no-trade clause.
Still, O’Neal’s bigger point was clear: he doesn’t think Irving wanted to team up with James again.
That history matters here. James and Irving were Cavaliers teammates from 2014 to 2017, and the partnership produced a championship in 2016 after Cleveland erased a 3-1 deficit against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
The run ended the following year when the Warriors beat the Cavaliers again in the 2017 NBA Finals. Not long after that, Irving asked out during the 2017 offseason, reportedly because he no longer wanted to play a secondary role behind James. Cleveland then traded him to the Boston Celtics.
Over time, Irving seemed to acknowledge he handled things poorly. He said he was immature and explained that he had isolated himself because he didn’t know how to share his emotions.
Their relationship eventually improved, and for years it was said James wanted the Lakers to bring Irving in for a reunion. That never happened.
There was also another wrinkle that cuts against the idea that Irving would have blocked a Cleveland reunion. Irving reportedly pushed the Mavericks to acquire James in 2023 and was said to have tried to convince his former teammate to come to Dallas.
There’s nothing to suggest Irving’s stance would have changed three years later. The two have not been reported to have fallen out, and they have continued speaking well of each other.
In the end, though, the biggest obstacle to a James-Irving reunion in Cleveland was simple: Dallas didn’t want to move Irving. The nine-time All-Star, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, wasn’t planning to force his way out, either, because he is comfortable with his situation.
Would James have been more inclined to return to Cleveland if Irving were there? That part will stay a mystery. What is known is that James had a secret meeting with his hometown team, but ultimately chose the 76ers as the better option.
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