Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Much has been made and continues to be about the relationship between now Celtics star Kyrie Irving and his former teammate LeBron James. Reports of friction between the two were viewed as the primary reason Irving wanted out of Cleveland and James' shadow prior to last season.
Former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin appeared on CLNS's "Good N' Plenty" podcast this week, and told host Jeff Goodman that's an oversimplification. Irving wanted to find himself.
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"In reality, it had nothing to do with getting away from LeBron," Griffin said. "It was, look, i'm a 24, 25-year-old kid with a wealth of potential who's already been an Olympian, a gold-medalist, who's already won an NBA championship, who made the biggest shot in Cleveland history. OK, I've done that thing, now let me go see how good I can really be. Kyrie had to do this for the sake of himself as a basketball player, and it had much less to do with his relationship with LeBron--but it's not as sexy a story, so we focus on the relationship."
Griffin said Irving and James didn't have drama as individuals, but there was a friction in the process of how the Cavs went about winning games.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports