With rumors of a potential reunion running hotter than the summer sun on milk left out in the heat, it needs to be done. Doing a bit of LeBron James timeline and a Kyrie Irving timeline, we're going to look at the relationship between the two and how things, from an outsider's perspective, went south. While the world may never truly know the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving dynamic, we can at least potentially relive how things broke down.
LeBron James Timeline: His Relationship With Kyrie Irving
April 18, 2016: The shade begins as it appears LeBron James celebrates Kyrie Irving missing a shot from beyond the arc.
June 20, 2016: Outsiders begin to chime in, as Kevin Durant tosses fuel on any alleged fire.
June 23, 2016: Possibly the statement made by LeBron that fuels something inside Kyrie; though it actually left the latter with a fit of the giggles.
June 27, 2016 Kyrie goes out of his way to get LeBron to do something he does not want to do — play in mostly meaningless games.
June 20, 2017 Report surfaces, stating that if LeBron were to leave the Cavs, Kyrie would also want out.
July 21, 2017 Jarring off-on stats regarding Kyrie and LeBron makes the rounds.
July 28, 2017 The now infamous report of Kyrie “wanting out of Cleveland” because he was sick of being “LeBron's son” picks up major steam. This is the first legit sign of trouble, even if only a narrative, coming out.
July 30, 2017 Kyrie Irving gets another case of the giggles when Stephen Curry mocks LeBron James.
August 8, 2017 LeBron apparently subtweets Kyrie on Twitter because that's what we all do as adults.
August 8, 2017 Stephen Curry weighs in on the increased volume of the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving rumors.
August 19, 2017 The alleged feud reaches the point where rap songs and being brought into the mix.
August 31, 2017 Kyrie “fails” to mention LeBron in his farewell speech.
September 1, 2017 Possibly not intentional, but Kyrie goes a significant amount of time without talking about LBJ.
September 18, 2017 Kyrie didn't believe he needed to let LeBron know he was going to walk, especially not before the front-office.
September 20, 2017 More rumor than report, but it was heavily suggested that Kyrie was “frustrated” by the offense being all about possibly the greatest basketball player ever.
January 12, 2018 Kyrie begins to troll LeBron — at least everyone thought so — on social media.
January 17, 2018 New reports surface, claiming LeBron never wanted the Cavs to trade Kyrie.
February 11, 2018 A somewhat misplaced with Boston Kyrie scores on LeBron with a nifty move.
February 18, 2018 The rare, not passive compliment comes from Kyrie's mouth.
April 5, 2018 After Kyrie goes out with a sever injury, costing him his season, LeBron reaches out to his former teammate.
June 16, 2018 Irving explains the pressure that comes with playing alongside James.
June 25, 2018 Kyrie snubs LeBron, we think, but it's complicated.
June 27, 2018 The Michael Jordan-LBJ debate is still happening, and Kyrie claims his former teammate isn't close to the Bulls icon.
June 27, 2018 During the same interview, Kyrie did give LeBron some credit, believing he should have won the MVP over James Harden.
September 15, 2018 Did the entire LeBron James-Kyrie Irving drama begin at the former's camp?
November 22, 2018 LeBron says it's really not his problem if Kyrie didn't want to play with him.
January 9, 2019 Irving once again explains the challenges that come with James.
January 16, 2019 Now claiming he understands what it takes to be a leader, Kyrie says he called LeBron to apologize.
January 16, 2019 Kyrie explains the apology in greater detail.
January 17, 2019 After the now infamous phone call, LeBron “appreciates” that Kyrie hit him up to say he was sorry.
January 17, 2019 From the depths of having no information, Charles Barkley doesn't believe Kyrie's apology.
January 18, 2019 A very weird rumor begins to surface of the two reuniting to play with the Los Angeles Lakers.
January 23, 2019 Kyrie is “happy” being “the man” and not a second banana, putting to bed the idea he'd reunite with LBJ in Los Angeles.
February 3, 2019 Despite all that has happened, the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving relationship is allegedly in a good place.
February 16, 2019 King James explains what “impressed” him most about his phone call with Kyrie.
February 20, 2019 The phone call topic remains in the news, with Kyrie explaining how it helped him grow.
May 24, 2019 More social media tomfoolery, as LeBron likes an IG post of Kyrie in a Lakers uniform.
May 24, 2019 Kyrie and LeBron reportedly… now wait for it… hung out! Heaven to Betsy, kids!
June 17, 2019 In somewhat hilarious news, it was reported that Kyrie treated a Celtics teammate just like LeBron treated him.
July 1, 2019 LeBron allegedly spoke to Kyrie, but never actually tried to recruit him to Los Angeles.
January 23, 2020 Kyrie once again appears to troll LeBron after a key overturned call.
June 12, 2020 As the world begins to go through a legit global pandemic, reports surface over the alleged idea Kyrie likes being against LeBron over the NBA season restarting in Orlando.
December 7, 2020: LeBron was “hurt” by comments made by Kyrie.
Jan. 22, 2021: Kyrie compares his Brooklyn Big 3 to his Cleveland Big 3. All the Big 3s.
Feb 18, 2021: Years removed from being teammates, Kyrie hits LeBron with some fancy footwork.
Feb 18, 2021: A strong message is sent by Kryie to LeBron after the former topples the latter in a regular season game.
Feb 19, 2021: The beef, which is now off-and-on for what feels like forever, is reportedly once again sparked by some pregame tomfoolery.
Current date (time of this publication): Rumors and the like are running roughshod over the idea that a Kyrie Irving-LeBron James reunion can happen with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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