Kendrick Perkins has shared additional perspective on the relationship between Kyrie Irving and LeBron James during their time with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The former NBA big man revisited what he observed as LeBron James and Kyrie Irving played together from 2014 to 2017. Their partnership produced three straight NBA Finals appearances and a historic title in 2016.
Irving and James led Cleveland to its first championship by overcoming a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors.
Perkins points to subtle separation during Cavaliers run
Kendrick Perkins referenced team dinners and individual workout routines as examples of what he perceived as growing independence from Kyrie Irving when it came to LeBron James.
Despite their success, Perkins indicated there were subtle indications of separation behind the scenes. He described strong camaraderie among most teammates, while noting Irving often kept to himself.
“Bron, each teammate had the group message… ‘Dinner reservations is at XYZ. Those road team dinners had a different type of camaraderie. I don’t recall one team dinner that I saw Kyrie Irving at…”
“I was neighbors with Kyrie during that time. He stayed across the street from me. Kyrie to me, he never wanted to be under Bron’s wing. He never wanted to be in his shadow.”
“The way that I look at it, it was almost as if ‘y’all kiss LeBron a– around here’ type deal. Bron had his own workouts outside of the organization, his own trainers…”
Historic comeback defines their shared legacy
Perkins emphasized that he was not claiming there was direct conflict between the two. Rather, he framed the situation as the kind of dynamic that can emerge when elite talents share leadership roles.
“You started to see that separation… I’m not saying they were beefing. When I got to OKC it was the same with Russ and KD…”
“Once he got to Boston, he realized, ‘Hold on, man. I took playing with greatness for granted.’ They’re still going to go down as one of the best duos to ever do it because they had arguably the greatest championship of all time.”
Across their three seasons together, Irving and James formed one of the league’s most successful duos. Cleveland reached the NBA Finals each year and secured the 2016 championship in dramatic fashion.
The series marked the first time in Finals history that a team erased a 3-1 deficit to win the title. Irving’s late three-pointer in Game 7 became one of the defining moments of that championship run.
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