Kyrie Irving PLAYING CHESS With Lebron James?!!

All right, M. P. E., you know, I had so many brothers asking me about this Kyrie Irving situation when he decided to willingly divulge his interaction with LeBron James, where he states that he called LeBron James up and told him that he was apologetic for how he conducted himself when LeBron James first came back to Cleveland. Many brothers want to know what I think about that whole situation, and what I thought about it at the time is the same thing that I think right now. And that's: Kyrie Irving is that little brother. He's that infant who's now learned how to lie for his own gain.

Remember when you were a kid? Maybe if you had a little brother or a little sister who was 7, 8, 10 years younger than you, so you can remember and you understand their growth and their development. The first time that you heard your little brother or your little sister lie and know what they were doing, because the whole point of a lie is to be able to manipulate the situation, to control other people around you for your own gain. And the first time that you heard your sister or your brother lie, you said to yourself, "Uh-oh, the game then changed."

If you're a parent, the first time that you understood that your child had the capacity to lie or to attempt to manipulate you, you said to yourself, "Oh, I got to watch him now. I got to watch her now." Because that's a part of the development of human beings: "How do I get out of a bad situation, or I can connive something? I can introduce an element to make people think something that is not really true for my own benefit." That's what Kyrie Irving has learned. That's a part of his leadership process, is understanding makavelian principles. Is what he's learned from his "idols," quote unquote, his idols: Kobe Bean Bryant and LeBron James.

Remember, last year he was not really doing this, but this year he's kind of ratcheted up a lot of his rhetoric, and his demeanor has changed a little bit as well. He's become much more confrontational with the media, with his teammates, with his coaches. And I believe that it's because he's been conferring with Mr. Kobe being Bryant, who is his main idol. But he's also learned some things from LeBron James. He's learned the art of passive-aggressive rhetoric. For better or for worse, Kyrie has learned this. I'm not particularly a "fan," quote unquote, of this tactic or this technique of leadership, but he's decided to use it because I think that he's a desperate man.

I think that he's a guy who knows that right now the roster of the Boston Celtics is very awkwardly built, as I've stated inly in many videos. They have the same type of player too repetitively, going into the third string. They have the same type of player, and they need to get rid of a couple of those guys because they're extremely talented, they're very young, they want to sold their role oats in the NBA. They don't want to be role players; they want to be stars. And Kyrie has to figure out how to control that dynamic because it is very tempestuous.

So, he decided to introduce this red herring of being apologetic to LeBron James. And do I think that he was sincere? I think partially. But I believe that for the most part, he just wants to pull LeBron James into the situation because he knows that once he does that, everybody's going to be focused on that. And it's going to put his teammates in the position, or at least the portion of his teammates that are not as sharp as they should be or who are overly humble, to say to themselves, "Well, you know what? Maybe I should conform to what Kyrie is saying." That's the method to his madness, and there are very few pundits who I think have caught on to this.

I've heard a few of them on television who very clearly understand what's going on, one of them being Skip, who normally is very, very sharp and on point when it comes to anything involving LeBron James. Because even when you pull LeBron James into your story, you have to become like LeBron James. So for Kyrie to pull LeBron in, he has to kind of become like him. And it's easy to understand why he's become so much like LeBron, because they spend so much time together. But the main element that I think that people are leaving out is the Kobe Bean element.

Kobe Bryant is that type of guy who'll be on the phone with Kyrie Irving and let him know, "You have to be harder on your team. You have to be stronger on your team. You have to confront your coach. You have to push everybody constantly. Keep pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing. And if you need to, you can use that backstory with you and LeBron James to put your teammates in the position where they have to conform to you, like you had to conform to LeBron." And I could definitely see Kyrie saying, "You know what? You're right." Because why would he advanced this story about him speaking to LeBron James? Nobody asked him about that. He knew that it would have a ripple effect through the media, get back to his teammates, and if he had to take the the "L," quote unquote, for the sake of adjusting or socially engineering his locker room, he'd be willing to do that.

So anyway, they're going to talk about it. I'm going to chime in. Obviously, this is something that, um, it was a big deal for me because I had to, uh, call B. R., you know, and tell him like, "You know, I apologize for being that young player that wanted to everything at his, you know, at his fingertips. And I wanted everything to, uh, be at, you know, my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to Champion. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that. And, you know, the responsibility of being the best player in the world, lead a team, is something that's not meant for many people." That was a direct shot at Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and a lot of the other young players who actually have the goal to believe that they're as good as Kyrie Irving.

And I told you guys prior to this season that Jason Tatum, his head was getting too big. He went out there and he trained with Kobe be as well. And everybody who embraces the "Mamba mentality," quote unquote, has that same outlook, which is: attack, attack, attack, attack. They don't know how to fit in, they don't know how to conform. So Kyrie is letting Jason Tatum know, "Everybody's not built to lead a team to championship, and you're not good enough. So don't ever try to challenge me for that Alpha spot on this team, because you're not good enough right now."

And Brown was one of those guys that came to Cleveland and tried to really show show us what it's like to win a championship, and it was hard for him. And, uh, sometimes getting the most out of the group, it's not the easiest thing in the world. You know, "I feel like the best person to call was him because, you know, he's been in the situation. You know, he's, he's been there with me where I've been the young guy, you know, being a 22-year-old kid, and you won everything."

I think with that, you also called him because you knew that he would be an easy Mark. LeBron James is an easy Mark. LeBron's like the chicken school that everybody knows, as soon as you get her number, you go get to ass. Because LeBron loves attention so much. Just having his name drawn into this situation, I think that it's really taking LeBron a second to figure out why Kyrie called him, because I don't think that he Peg Kyrie as that type of guy who would call him and try to manipulate him. LeBron knows that he himself would do that, but I don't think that he's ped Kyrie to do that.

And we're going to cover that with a little bit more depth in another video, because as we all know by now, LeBron James made an official ass of himself, getting on camera for, I believe, Instagram and one of these social media outlets, and singing the song "Rewind" directed at Kyrie Irving. Because he wants Kyrie to come back to the Lakers. Because he pretty much knows that, hopefully for him anyway, Anthony Davis coming to join the Lakers is a done deal. So he's hoping that that Triumph of himself, Kyrie, and Anthony Davis can take on the Warriors. But once again, that's a whole other video for another day. The point being is that Kyrie has been able to reel in LeBron H Line and Sinker.

What that brought me back to was like, "All right, how do I get the best out of this group of the success they had last year, and then helping them realize what it takes to win a championship?" What's going on, everybody? Welcome to First Take on a Friday Eve. I'll keep the pleasantries short. Gentlemen, Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman, A. M. L. Y. Carum, Terence Crawford, Amir Khan will be with us in just a bit. Because I want to react to that sound, because I find it very interesting. So that was Kyrie Irving after last night's impressive win over the Raptors, talking about a phone call he decided to make to, of course, his former teammate LeBron James. Max, is this a sign that Kyrie might regret leaving the King?

No, not at all. What Kyrie stated is no more a sign of him being regretful for leaving LeBron James than it would be for a young man or young woman who's always going back and forth with their parents. They move out on their own, they get a greater understanding of what it means to be responsible for yourself, they have children of their own, and then they call back their parents and they apologize to their parents for what they put them through. That doesn't mean, "Mom, Dad, I want to move back into the house." That means, "Now I understand what I put you through, and I apologize for that." I think that Kyrie has spread his wings. I don't see him wanting to team up with LeBron James again, but you never know. I just know this: what basically the energy that he put out when he stated that he called LeBron James, it was not meant to be a mere culit to LeBron James. It was meant to act as a red herring to force his teammates to conform to what he wants from them for this season.

No, this has nothing to do with LeBron James. Kyrie is using LeBron James here as a prop. Agreed, for two reasons. One, he's sending a message, as Coach made the point on Countdown last night, as Stan Van gundi made the point on Countdown last night: sending a message to the young guys, "I'm the LeBron James of this team. Come on, guys, follow my lead. I've been there, trust me." And that's the point. Kyrie Irving understands that his own teammates respect LeBron James more than they respect him, and he needs them to look at him like how they look at LeBron James. Because he believes that he can do what LeBron James does when it matters the most. And who knows, he might.

Kyrie Irving is, is, um, honestly, he's one of the most exemplary one-on-one players I've ever seen. Like, he's up there in that realm of Kevin Durant, Kobe, Michael Jordan. Is he Michael Jordan or Kobe? No. But when it comes to his offensive skill set, how clean it is, to me he's at least two levels above James Harden. Because Kyrie does not have to trick you. He does not need the referees to dominate you. James Harden needs the referees to be dominant. He doesn't need the referees to be very good or great, but he needs them to dominate because he needs the referees to give him all those cheap calls and whistles. Kyrie doesn't need that.

"I was like you once. I didn't understand what this took. Now I regret it. Follow me." That's one message he's sending. And the other thing he's doing by using LeBron as a prop, because he brought this up to the media. No one said, "Hey, LeBron said..." Tweet. Someone tweeted out, "We heard that..." No, he said, "Hey, I called LeBron." Absolutely. And that's how you know, once again, that LeBron James was flx by what Kyrie Irving did, because he made no mention of it in his social media feed, none of them. And we know that LeBron James loves to make everything public. So I, I think that he believed that it was very sincere. And maybe now that Kyrie has gone public with it, LeBron James is going to go back and forth with him and start to play the "game," quote unquote, with him over the media waves to see if he could lure Kyrie back to the Lakers. Because in LeBron James' mind, he's like, "Oh wow, Kyrie has finally matured to the level where he understands that you have to tell a good lie to get what you want out of life."

You know, is to point out two people, "I have matured. I have become a more mature player, a more mature leader." And I don't fult Kyrie for any of that. Good. Use LeBron as a prop. Has nothing to do with LeBron, or he may experience genuine regret. Regret? That's what I doubt it. What's going on in his mind, I'm not going to... that's conjecture. But he's using him here to do those two things, and good for him. Stephen A., Kyrie is right now thinking about, "How do I lead this group of guys to the promised land? How do I do that?" And of course, he wants to make himself look good in the process. Sure. He reminds me more of Kobe Bryant than... Absolutely. And that's how you know that Kobe Bryant is his adviser. I've been telling you brothers that for a while wild now. A lot of these Hy jings that you see Kyrie doing, he's getting them under the inspiration of Kobe Bean Bryant, I'm telling you. Than anybody in the NBA today. It's like the same Soul. Kobe was very much this way, and I don't think it makes him a bad guy or he's doing a bad thing. Good for Kyrie, but that's what he's doing. He's using LeBron James as a prop.

Well, I'm not going to disagree with that point, but I think there's a bigger point to be made. And the bigger point to be made is that we should be looking at LeBron James just a little bit different. And the reason why... No, we should not, Stephen A. Smith. There's no reason to apologize to LeBron James because of what Kyrie Irving stated. Because for all intents and purposes, the real reason why Kyrie Irving left Cleveland has nothing to do with him being regretful to LeBron James. He was willing—when I say 'he,' I'm talking about Kyrie—he was willing to fall on the proverbial sword in that press conference where he stated that he called LeBron James to once again make himself out to be the sacrificial l, to force his teammates to fall in line with him. If he has to play the bad guy for the sake of winning his teammates over in the bigger picture, that's what he's willing to do. But we know the real reason why he wanted out of Cleveland: because he knew that LeBron James wanted him traded, and also because I think that LeBron James was doing certain things to him to try to emasculate him, to show him that "I am the alpha." And I'm going to leave that alone. But even Max Kellerman has touched on some of those things that he's heard through the, you know, through the media undercurrents that went on between LeBron James and Kyrie in the locker room, most likely concerning a woman. But who knows? Either way, there's a lot more to why Kyrie wanted out of Cleveland than just him being a petulant child and a player who wanted to be the alpha.

Why we should be looking at LeBron James a little bit differently is because Kyrie Irving came right on this show, on National Television in Bristol, and was very aloof, uh, to some degree. No, he was not aloof. What he was was dismissive of many of the tactics that Max Kellerman and yourself, even to a degree, were trying to use to bring out a lot of the, you know, a lot of the dirt on why he wanted out. He was not going to air out his dirty laundry on the national Airwaves. But the fact that he was willing to air out the fact that he called up LeBron should tell you what, Stephen A. Smith: that he's trying to manipulate the situation about LeBron James. He didn't talk to LeBron James about leaving. Uh, why did he need to talk to him about it? And basically gave the impression that, you know what, he wanted to move on and what have you. And I still don't think that he has regrets as it pertains to that. But I do believe that at times, because he wanted the mantle and he didn't want to be the little brother to the big brother that was LeBron James, um, there was this perception that obviously he did not want to play with LeBron James any longer. And LeBron James took hits for that, and deservedly so at the time.

No, deservedly so, period. There was not a perception that he did not want to play with LeBron James; that was the true, Stephen A. Smith. And we all know why, and why you're trying to change the Nar, I have no idea. Everybody knows that LeBron James wanted to have Kyrie Irving traded for Paul George and Eric bledo. Everybody knows that Dan Gilbert told LeBron James, "No problem, will make that trade happen. All we need is a guarantee from you that you're going to sign the extension." LeBron James said, "I'm not going to sign any extension. Just make that trade go through, and I'll think about it." Dan Gilbert realized that LeBron James was basically trying to set up this whole situation where he could bring in Eric bledo, who's also under the Clutch Sports Banner, bring in Paul George, who's the guy who's always looked up to LeBron, so that when LeBron was to leave for the Lakers, he could say, "Well, look, I left you guys in Cleveland with a budding young Superstar and Paul George." Dan Gilbert realized that, and basically Dan Gilbert tried to put the kabash on LeBron's whole Legacy. Because what Dan Gilbert realized is that he already got a championship in Cleveland with LeBron James. He was able to do something as an owner that basically no other sports franchise owner in Cleveland has done for over five decades. So he didn't give a ass about LeBron anymore. Dan Gilbert traded Kyrie, and he also basically detonated the team to show LeBron James, "Look, I'm the boss here, and I'm going to give you this middle finger for you on your way out. This is a middle finger for you and your whole team."

Because when you got a guy that just finished averaging 25 for you, that the year before had helped you win an NBA championship, um, obviously, you know, you, you, you adopt the mentality that there was a level of appreciation that even though he wasn't on LeBron's level—and he was never on LeBron level—there was an elevated level of appreciation that LeBron should have had for him. What he revealed last night is that, excuse me, "LeBron wasn't the issue, I was." And that really goes a long way.

Well, that's what he tried to imply, but that's not really what he means, Stephen A. Smith. And we all know that, because once again, as I already laid out, there are a lot of components to that whole LeBron James-Kyrie story. You don't hear that very often from professional athletes where they're publicly acknowledging, unsolicited I might add, that, "Oh, it really was me after all," and that shows an elevated level of maturation that we have to give Kyrie credit for.

Well, what it shows is an elevated level of leadership to a makavelian level, once again. And certain people might not understand this: all great leaders will resort to intricate lies and intricate levels of deception to get what they want.

You have to be able to see through it if it's meant for you to be able to see through it. But to me, it also shows that we have to look at LeBron and have, believe it or not, even more of an appreciation for him, because LeBron may have very well took hits that were undeserving.

Oh, by the way, by me as well. "We ought to be ashamed of yourself." I guess so. I guess so. I guess so. I don't think I, I look, Stephen A., what are you going to do next? Are you going to call LeBron James and apologize to him? I mean, ass. Kyrie didn't say publicly, it would be one thing if Kyrie came out and said publicly, "You know what, I was once where these young guys are, um, on, on the Celtics right now, my young teammates and I, you know, 'cause I'm, I've already won a championship. I'm a little bit older than some of these guys, although not much. Um, and, and so I understand how they're feeling 'cause I was once feeling that. And, you know what, when I look back at it, I feel as though I was wrong to do LeBron that, like that, as a younger guy. Now I understand more, and I feel like that's something that, that I've, I've learned."

No, he didn't say that. He said, "I called LeBron." He brought us inside and let... Exactly, sir. And that's the entire point. It's a shame that Stephen A. Smith is falling for the banana and the tailpipe, because it's so obvious what this really is. And as I state, and as Max Kellerman is pretty much trying to imply, Kyrie Irving is sunning his teammates. As Max Kellerman has just stated, Kyrie never said, "You know, I was once these guys." Kyrie said, "I thought that I could lead the team." He's directing his comments on a subliminal level towards a certain player, and it has to be Jason Tatum. Because Jason Tatum is the guy, once again, and I had him on my most overrated list coming into this season, because I already knew what his mindset was going to be. I saw him in last year's playoffs. I thought he was a nice player, averaging about 17 points a game, 18 points a game during the playoffs. The media was trying to blow his head up like he was Dominique Wilkins or something like that. Jason Tatum is a nice player. He's somebody who at, at his best, might become a 25 Point per game guy. Right now, he's too light in to ass to be the alpha on any team. He has to fall in line. All those guys have to fall in line. And that's what this is all about: let his teammates know, "I actually went, you know, and, and, and paid respect to this guy and apologized for acting the way you guys are acting right now." That's a signal to his teammates: "Maybe in the future you may want to come and apologize to me one day for ding for doing this."

Well, I, I, you can look at it that way, and I can understand how you would get to that point, especially in light of what's been transpiring with the Boston Celtics as of late, particularly with the multitude of Team meetings and all that other stuff. But when you think about Kyrie Irving and you hear the name LeBron James, you instinctually go to what their relationship ended up as and what ultimately led to the Divide. LeBron James ultimately departed for Cleveland, but before departing from Cleveland, Kyrie Irvin had left Cleveland. You think about that, and it provokes questions as to why that happened.

Stephen A. Smith, you already know why that happened. You're an Insider. I'm sure that you've heard things. Let's not act like the only reason why Kyrie left was because he wanted his own team. Yes, he did want his own team, but he was definitely compelled to leave by how he was treated in that locker room and what he heard when it came to trade rumors.

Then you get to piggyback off of what Kyrie Irving had to say at that particular time. And let me also say, those "trade rumors," quote unquote, were confirmed by David Griffin. David Griffin confirmed that, yes, Kyrie was being shot for Eric bledo and Paul George, but they were not able to truly cement the deal. Kyrie heard about it, and he said, "I want out." And David Griffin helped him out, David Griffin as well as d Gilbert. So that shows you that the both of those guys kind of wanted to stick it to LeBron James a little bit. The things that were reported at that particular time, you start think bringing up tweets and quotes from LeBron James and what have you. And we, we brought up all of these things. I brought up all of these things, and they weren't false. But in the end, what it comes down to is that regardless of how true it may have been, it didn't make LeBron wrong.

So, do you... Here's the question, the question we're asking right now: Do you really believe he regrets leaving LeBron? I don't think he regrets leaving LeBron James, but I do... Okay, so then the whole point of your soliloquy is what, Stephen A. Smith? I mean, come on. If he does not regret leaving LeBron James, basically what you're saying is that he must have an ulterior motive to release this type of information, which you would think would be confidential. You call somebody up, and unsolicited, you put it forth to the media when you know that it's going to be propagated all across the national Airwaves. He has to have a motive for this, Stephen A. Smith, if it's not that he's regretful that he left LeBron James.

Do believe he regrets the reasons behind it? In other words, if I just want to go to spread my wings and fly, that's one of the reasons why Kobe never really had to apologize in regards to Shaq, right? Kobe Bryant didn't want to be the little brother that piggybacked off of Shaquille O'Neal in order to be a champion. He wanted to show the world, "Oh, I can do this on my own."

Stephen A. Smith, please don't open up that kind of worms, because every time I have to tell the truth about Kobe being and Brian, his fans get so upset. I mean, the man tried to leave that team three different, three different times. He tried to leave in 2000 after they won their first championship. He tried to leave in '04. He tried to leave in, in, uh, in '07. Like, come on. The man wanted to leave multiple times. He was ready to give up as being the leader of the Lakers until they were able to get P Gasol, which, you know, look, Kobe, Kobe ended up being a great player for those four years from '07 to 2011. But it's a fact. J West has already come out and stated and confirmed that, yes, after they won their first championship in 2000, Kobe requested a trade. Okay? Kobe Bryant himself has confirmed that back in '03 or '04, I think it was '04, he was driving around Chicago trying to live in the same neighborhood that that Jordan lived in because he wanted out from the Lakers. And in '07, everybody knows that he demanded a trade, and Jerry bus shut him down and let him know, "Look, negro, I own you." Okay? So let's, let's not bring up the Kobe Shaq thing. Kobe ran Shaq out of town. A lot of guys get mad when I say it, but everybody knows this, the truth. Shaq even joked about it at his Hall of Fame speech.

I'm that Elite, so you don't have to apologize for that, particularly when you're backing up by going to three straight NBA Finals without Shaq and winning back-to-back titles. But if you're Kyrie, you could have said, "Hey, I want to leave because I want to spread my wings and fly," which is basically what he said. But what he said last night is he's acknowledging that some of the push back towards LeBron may have been provoked by me because I wasn't mature enough at the time.

I am not suggesting that Kyrie is showing no growth here. I have a very cynical view of what he's doing. I agree, and I have the same perspective as you, sir. That doesn't make him a bad guy. I said it makes him a competitor who's trying to win a championship and trying to figure out any way to motivate the Celtics to get there.

Absolutely. And also, of course, everyone wants to look good in the process, naturally. But I'm not denying he may actually be experiencing some personal growth. I'm reminded of Shaquille O'Neal, remember in the doc where he's talking about Penny and he's like, "Look, we should have done more, and a lot of that's on me, my ego is a young guy, etc., etc." And you could see Shaq, of course, coming from a place where he has multiple championships, one of the greatest players of all time, has the kind of ego strength now as an older person to look back and say, "Yeah, that was kind of, uh, I was, I was, uh, an ass, a big ass." Because that's what Shaq was. And also because Shaq has four rings, he can sit back and basically try to consult Penny because he knows that one of the reasons why Penny's career never truly materialized to the Superstar level that it could have is because sha left him. So there's a certain feeling of guilt that Shaq has. He knows that he's complicit in Penny Hardway not being as widely known as he should have been.

Uh, insecure in certain ways or whatever it is. I see a little bit of that in Kyrie here, saying, "Look, however LeBron wound up treating me that made me want to leave, aside from other considerations like wanting his own team, I could see now from that point of from from this point of view now how I would make him feel not so great about me. Maybe part of the way he was treating me as what I was giving him." I'm not saying Kyrie's not feeling that. I just don't think that's what this is about.

Thank you, sir. But as far as any Discord on the Celtics, it was a good sign for them yesterday, beating Toronto by nine points. And Kyrie Irving put on a show last night. Well, Kyrie Irving is playing the best basketball that he's ever played in his career, because now basically he's scoring 30 points, and he's also out the rock. So Kyrie's playing on a whole other level. That's why he's trying to get his teammates to raise their level of play, because he understands the urgency. Because when the playoffs come, especially in the Eastern Conference, from the second round onward, it's going to be a dog fight.

Now, with the with the injury of Victor Oladipo, they're pretty much going to fall out of contention as being a dark horse, because I considered Indiana a dark horse to make an Eastern Conference playoff run and maybe even knock off one of those four teams. Now with him out, they can forget that. So Kyrie knows who their competition is, and he's trying to Zone in. I think that Danny a may just hold Pat unless he can get a major trade going other than Anthony Davis. We know that he can't get Anthony Davis right now. He's going to have to wait and hope that the Lakers are unable to put together a package that will impress the New Orleans Pelicans. But that's a whole other video. So we'll see how things go, how they transpire for Kyrie and the Celtics. I don't believe that the hyinks are over. I think that the Celtics will hit another rough patch, and we'll see what Kyrie Irving tries to do to manipulate his teammates. So, peace.