Kyrie Irving Explains Why He Chose to Leave Cleveland

During a Twitch stream, Kyrie Irving attempted to clear up rumors about his decision to leave Cleveland, saying that it didn't have to do with LeBron James. 

LeBron James originally left the Cleveland Cavaliiers via free agency in 2010 and the team collapsed. That resulted in the Cavs winning the lottery in 2011 and the right to draft Kyrie Irving. 

So when James returned to Cleveland in 2014, he already has a superstar to team with. Irving and James played great together and were consistent challengers for the NBA title. They would win the title in 2016 and expected to compete for many more. 

Shockingly, the duo of Bryant and James would break up in 2017 when the point guard requested a trade out of Cleveland. Wanting to be the focal point of his team, Irving was dealt to the Boston Celtics. He said of his feelings about the trade: 

"When you're playing with someone like [James], or somebody you like to compare him to, it's a different animal. It's a different journey, you're automatically expected to be at the top of the league. Every time you play with [James] it's going to be a lot of media attention, a lot of narratives, spun narratives, politics, a lot of s--- that people don't see in front of the camera. And for me I was just a young person trying to figure it out. It's not that I disliked playing with [James] at any time, it was just literally my time to move on."