When Brian Windhorst talks about the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, you have to listen.
In the offseason of 2018, LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers as an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.
James is expected to retire from the NBA with the Lakers.
However, had Kyrie Irving not requested a trade from the Cavaliers in the offseason of 2017, James may not have left his hometown team, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Irving requested a trade from Cleveland in 2017 and was traded to the Boston Celtics.
"I think LeBron intended to stay in Cleveland and then the Kyrie Irving thing blew up," Windhorst said. "And that was in 2017. LeBron decided before his last year that he was going to be done in Cleveland. I think in 2017 he looked around and saw the Lakers and saw a great opportunity."
James and Irving were teammates on the Cavaliers for three seasons. The stars made three NBA Finals together and guided Cleveland to its only NBA championship in 2016 against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.
Back in August, former Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue -- who now coaches the Los Angeles Clippers -- told Shannon Sharpe that James was "crushed" when Irving was traded by Cleveland to Boston in 2017.
"Bron was doing an autograph signing with jerseys and stuff for his foundation," Lue said. "So I come sit next to Bron. We sitting there, hand him the phone, SportsCenter, 'Kyrie Irving's just been traded to the Boston Celtics.'
"Bron dropped the marker and just lays back in his chair for about 10 minutes, doesn't say a word, like pissed off. And Bron was crushed. And I saw when that happened, I thought Bron would do something different sooner than later and that's what he did."
The Cavaliers haven't advanced past the second round of the playoffs since James left in 2018. Cleveland may have won another championship had Irving never asked out.
After all, they had a "Big 3" of James, Irving and Kevin Love.
James, 41, becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason for the first time since 2018. It’s unknown if the NBA legend plans to retire or continue playing.
Cavaliers Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Cavaliers. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.