James-Irving, who needs whom more?

Like Kevin Durant, the other protagonist of the league’s offseason novels, the point guard seems to be not entirely convinced to continue his career with the Brooklyn Nets and there has been much speculation that his next jersey could be that of the Los Angeles Lakers where he would be reunited with his old friend LeBron James.

While Irving’s future is not yet defined, in case of joining the yellow and purple it will be the ‘bombshell’ of the summer in the NBA, perhaps beyond the final destination of KD.

Why?

Because the contribution that a now much more experienced Irving can give to the Lakers would catapult them to the list of championship favorites and would heal, at least on paper, the lousy image left last season, one of the worst for the franchise (33-49; .402) in which they did not qualify for the Playoffs.

They would form a most competitive and complete ‘Big Three’: James, Irving and Anthony Davis; perhaps the best for the 2022-2023 season that starts in a few months.

However, before talking about a possible James-Irving ‘reconciliation’, we must remember the past of this duo and the reasons, at least the known ones, that led to their dissolution.

The former Duke man was selected with the 1st overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs had bad numbers during Kyrie’s first few years, finishing with 21, 24 and 33 wins in his first three seasons.

However, those first three campaigns for Irving in Cleveland were successful individually. He won Rookie of the Year, made the All-Star team in two of those three years and won All-Star MVP (2013-14).

His fate and that of the Cavs took a turn when LeBron finished his cycle with the Miami Heat to head back to his native Ohio. Thus began his second stint with the franchise; it was 2014.

The Cavs reached four consecutive NBA Finals, all while LeBron was with the team. Kyrie played three of those seasons winning the NBA title in 2016 and it looked like the future for the duo was bright in Cleveland. It was thought that most players who just made it to three straight Finals wouldn’t move….

However, Irving requested to be traded because he reportedly wanted to lead his own team and escape the shadow of LeBron James, who referred to him as ‘The Kid’. Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics where he played only two unsuccessful seasons. His time in Boston was baffling to fans and critics alike.

Irving joined the Nets in 2019 with a familiar story that can be summed up like this.

He started out scoring 50 points in his debut.

A shoulder injury sidelined him for 26 games mid-season.

The league was halted by COVID-19 but Irving did not rejoin in the Orlando Bubble so he played only 20 games all season.

For 2020-21 he was named an All-Star, his seventh selection, and averaged 27 points per game. He also joined the 50-40-90 club, which is when a player hits at least 50% from the field, 40% three-pointers and 90% from the free throw line.

However, he played only 54 games and missed the last three games of the Playoffs as the Nets were eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The story did not improve for the following season when Irving already had KD and later James Harden.

A rush to the Play-in and the subsequent sweep in the first round against the Celtics were the beginning of the end for what seemed to be called to be a ‘Big Three’ of legend: Irving, Durant and Harden, same that has taken different directions with ‘The Beard’ negotiating his renewal with the Philadelphia 76ers, while Irving and KD have the attention and have the NBA pending their new destination.

And after all this, Kyrie didn’t win a title.

The story for James was very different.

He came to the Lakers for the 2018-2019 season, in the following campaign he won his fourth championship, the 18th for the angelic franchise in which he has broken records and established others.

However, in the final stretch of his professional career LeBron, who for now seems not to contemplate retirement, will seek at any cost a fifth championship ring and for that he will probably need, so to speak Kyrie. Why?

Next season James will be 38 years old and 20 in the NBA. He has one year left on his contract with the Lakers and next summer he will be a free agent unless he signs an extension, which could be for two years. So the following seems to be the last chance for James to win a championship in the Association due to the roster that could be confirmed by Los Angeles with the arrival of Irving, because if he continues playing to share the court with his son, Bronny (he will enter the 2024 draft) before retiring, he will hardly be surrounded by so much talent.