Kyrie Irving Sounds Off About Missing 2016 Cavaliers Title Reunion in Europe

10 years ago, the 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers made NBA history by winning the 2016 NBA Finals against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors.

The 2015-16 Cavaliers are the only team to erase a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals. 

LeBron James, Kevin Love, JR Smith, Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova were in Europe together hanging out and playing golf for the 2016 championship reunion. They had a great time. 

Kyrie Irving, though, wasn't there, causing many to speculate that the guard didn't have a relationship with his former teammates anymore. 

However, Irving said that's not true during a rant on social media. 

"Me and my teammates who won a championship together in 2016, we are straight y'all," Irving said. "All right, it's all love. Real talk. I'm actually walking through the streets of Shanghai right now. So y'all just flow with me, man. Me and my teammates, me and my brothers who played on the Cavs, we are good. We are more than good.

"When I get back to the States, I'm going to pop in with them. Going to chop it up. We going to have a great time. All right, we're going to leave it at that because the immaturity behind using media to spin narratives… psychotic, bro. Psychotic. You got to understand, I've been in this media storm for about 10 years, 11 years. I mean, and it's okay. It's not meant to be understood. That's how people make money, too, right? Fair criticism is cool."

Irving hit the game-winning shot over Stephen Curry in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. He's arguably the best point guard in Cavaliers history.

LeBron, Irving and Love went to three straight NBA Finals together, but everything changed after the 2016-17 season. 

Irving requested a trade during the 2017 offseason and the guard was traded to the Boston Celtics. Multiple reports at the time said Irving no longer wanted to be in LeBron's shadow. 

Irving has played for the Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks since leaving the Cavaliers. He went to the 2024 NBA Finals with Dallas. Ironically, the Celtics beat the Mavericks in five games. 

The Cavaliers haven't gotten back to the NBA Finals since 2018. LeBron signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason of 2018 and won his fourth title and fourth Finals MVP in 2020. 

Irving, who didn't play this season because he was recovering from his left ACL tear, will return to the court next season alongside Cooper Flagg in Dallas.