LeBron James lit into Kyrie Irving on Thursday following a tough week in which the Cleveland Cavaliers lost by 19 points to the Portland Trail Blazers and lost a close game against the Utah Jazz.
According to reports, LeBron and his starting point guard “exchanged words” in the locker room after the blowout road loss. The 1-3 Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t played a complete team game since the season began, though it’s far too early to say King James’ return to his hometown is a failure.
James said after the Trail Blazers game that there were “a lot of bad habits” that had formed in the Cavaliers organization while he was in Miami. At the time the comments seemed directed at Irving and Dion Waiters, but nothing had officially come out. According to ESPN, there’s no more denying the source of that venom.
During a post-game altercation between James and Irving, LeBron expressed his frustration with his new teammates dominating the ball and valuing personal stats over team success. Irving is averaging 3.8 assists per game in the Cavs’ four-game-old season, and while he hasn’t had an assist in more than six quarters he’s taken 36 shots during that same span.
That seems to be the reason LeBron James lit into Kyrie Irving earlier today.
“There’s no way you’re going to win a basketball game like that, just having six assists,” he said to reporters. “We just can’t win like that, and we got to figure out a way to help each other and not make it so tough.”
James fared better last night against the Jazz, scoring 31 points in 42 minutes. But while he was involved, Irving still showed those “bad habits” LeBron James was talking about. In 45 minutes, Irving scored 34 points but had zero assists.
