LeBron James says former teammate comments "Hurt Me a Little Bit" -

Months ago, Kyrie Irving’s comments on Kevin Durant’s podcast seemed to downgrade LeBron’s clutch game abilities. Now James has opened up about Kyrie’s take on a podcast appearance of his own.

Kyrie said:

“I felt like I was the best option on every team I’ve played for down the stretch. This is the first time in my career where I can be like ‘that motherf*cker (Durant) can make that shot too.’”

That statement by Kyrie got a broad amount of reactions from the NBA community, many felt it was disrespectful from kyrie.

"I was like, 'Damn.' … The whole time while I was there I only wanted to see him be an MVP of our league. … It kinda hurt me a little bit."

Bron opens up about Kyrie's comments on finally having a teammate as clutch as him

(via @RoadTrippinPod) pic.twitter.com/aay7EY51VS

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 8, 2020

Apparently, LeBron himself feels the same way, as he recently told to Richard Jefferson on the “Road Trippin” podcast:

“So, when I heard the comment Kyrie made, I wanted to find the whole transcript. I was a little like, ‘damn.’ Once I got the whole transcript, I was like ‘damn.’

The whole time while I was there (in Cleveland), I only wanted to see him be the MVP of our league,” James said about Irving.

“I only cared about his success, and it just didn’t align. It just didn’t align, and we was able to win a championship. That’s the craziest thing. We were still able to win a championship, and we could never align, but I only cared about his well-being, both on and off the floor, and it kind of hurt me a little bit”

In Cleveland, Irving and James played together from 2014 to ’17, making it to three straight Finals and won 2016 champions together. They became the first pair of teammates to each score 40 points in a Finals game as they led the Cavs back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors.

James said the timing of Irving’s comments was as much of a disappointment as their content.