Kyrie’s time in Cleveland came to an awkward end when news was leaked that the star point guard had requested a trade.
Many speculated that the cause may have been the presence of NBA superstar LeBron James, who had returned to the team a few years earlier as the “saviour” of sorts. Irving, who had signed his contract with the Cavs before the arrival of LeBron, would eventually end up on Eastern Conference rival Boston Celtics.
Prior to the game, it was expected that Irving would be booed by the Cavs faithful in response to their perceived betrayal. What was unclear is how the Cleveland players that Irving used to call teammates would react. In regards to J.R. Smith, he showed that he’s still buddies with the new Celtics point guard with an extravagant handshake from back in their Cleveland days.
We’ll keep our eyes open to see how Irving and James react directly to each other, but for the moment all seems to be cool between Smith and Irving at least.
