LeBron James and Kyrie Irving may have been reunited in Los Angeles had a trade between the Lakers and Nets took place, according to reports.
To a recent source from SNY‘s Ian Begley, “the Lakers pondered chasing” Irving earlier this season when the Nets benched him for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
After Mayor Eric Adams adjusted vaccine requirement limits for athletes and entertainers, Irving was permitted to return to Barclays Center for games in late March after first resuming road games in January.
How the idea of Irving-James reunion came up
When Irving and James won the NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, Irving demanded a trade and ended up in Boston, where he signed with the Celtics for two seasons before joining the Nets together with Kevin Durant.
“Several outlets, including SNY, reported that the Nets had been open to talking to teams about potential Irving trades during that time. Obviously, nothing came to fruition. But some members of the Lakers organization discussed the possibility of trading for Irving during that stretch of the season, sources say.
The deal would have obviously reunited Irving with LeBron James. It’s unclear if the Lakers reached any internal consensus on Irving at the time.”
Ian Begley from SYN
