LeBron James didn’t hide the fact he desperately wanted Kyrie Irving to come to LA.
After Irving was traded from Brooklyn to Dallas, James posted a rather defeated three word response on Twitter: “Maybe it’s Me.”
The four-time Finals MVP told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon: “I can’t sit here and say I’m not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent, but [also] someone that I had great chemistry with, and know I got great chemistry with on the floor, that can help you win championships, in my mind, in my eyes,” James said.
LA made an offer to Brooklyn that centered around Russell Westbrook but the Nets opted to acquire Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith instead.
Despite lamenting that there’ll be no reunion with Irving, LeBron says he has moved on and will now focus on getting his side to the play-in’s – trades or no trades.
“But my focus is shifted now. My focus is shifted back to where it should be and that’s this club now and what we have in the locker room,” James said. “It’s a quick pivot. It don’t take me long. I don’t get too excited about the possibilities of things that can be. I kind of envision myself on what it can, but I don’t invest it all the way into it until I know it’s happening. And when it does not happen, I’m back locked in on the job at hand.”
“So we had an opportunity, our names were out there, the Lakers name was out there. We had an opportunity, it didn’t happen. We move on and we finish this season strong, try to get a bid into the postseason, where I feel if we go in healthy, we can compete with anybody.”
LAL is currently 25-29, 13th in the Western but only three games out of the number six seed so as LeBron says, with a healthy team (namely himself and Anthony Davis) they still have a chance at competing.