Report: Irving reaches out to former teammate James in hopes of reunion
Published
It sounds as though Kyrie Irving would like to once again join forces with LeBron James.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the soon-to-be free agent guard has recently reached out to James, currently a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, in attempt to see if he'd like play together on the Dallas Mavericks.
Irving and James spent three seasons together on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014 to 2017, highlighted by a comeback victory over the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
The 31-year-old Irving was the centrepiece of a blockbuster trade this past season that saw the Brooklyn Nets send Irving to the Mavs in February.
The massive deal did not work out for the Mavericks, who are also led by superstar Luka Doncic, as they finished the season with a 38-44 record and missed the postseason in the Western Conference.
Irving is coming off a four-year, $136 million contract and will be a free agent this summer.
James, 38, led the Lakers to the Western Conference Final this past season and has been with the Lakers since 2018, winning his fourth career NBA title in 2020. He's signed with the Lakers through the 2024-25 season for nearly $50 million per season.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, it would be difficult to have three max players on one roster in James, Irving and Doncic.
Irving averaged 27.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists over 60 games with the Nets and Mavericks in 2022-23, his 11th season in the NBA. The eight-time All-Star was suspended for five games by the Nets in November for failure to "unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs" after he posted an antisemitic documentary on social media.
James, a 19-time All-Star, averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists over 55 games with the Lakers in 2022-23, his 20th year in the NBA