The idea of Kyrie Irving joining the Los Angeles Lakers can be a sign of good things to come. That is if you're sitting down with the fans of Uncle Drew and one of the most storied franchises in NBA history.
It'll also be a reunion between Irving and LeBron James; both played in Cleveland and gave the city their first ever championship in 2016. While the thought of having a Batman and Robin tandem in the form of Irving and James look good on paper, Stephen A. Smith thinks otherwise.
According to the infamous NBA analyst, there is "no way in hell" that Irving will don the iconic Purple and Gold uniform. In an interview on First Take, Smith quoted a text message coming from "folks close to Kyrie's family" that plugs on the fact that Irving "ain't going to LA."
"From what I'm being told, it's not going to happen," said Smith. One source who reported on the issue also quoted an excerpt from the text message that if Irving ended up in L.A., it would make the team "formidable." Put James in the mix, and the sender sees the Lakers go to the conference semi-finals "at very least."
ESPN's Brian Windhorst also echoed this potential tandem and reunion of Irving and James. In his podcast, Windhorst claimed that Irving "has had discussions" with certain people about him playing for the Lakers. There is no bad blood between the two superstars; when Irving requested to be traded before the 2017-2018 season, issues sparked that he didn't want to play alongside LeBron. He later talked about "apologizing" to LBJ, and this made a reunion to be quite promising.
But as far as Smith and the text that he received are concerned, Irving and the Lakers aren't just made for each other. Smith also took to Twitter last week, posting that there's a 95% chance that Irving and Kevin Durant are going to the New York Knicks.
"Kyrie Irving is heading to Madison Square Garden with Kevin Durant," Smith said during his interview. He added that people in Irving's "inner circle" are trying to involve the Brooklyn Nets, but "clearly New York is the destination."
Irving will have a lot of things to think about now that Boston is out of the Playoffs picture, thanks to the Greek Freak and the Milwaukee Bucks. Durant meanwhile will still have to tackle the Portland Trailblazers and recover from his injury before occupying his mind about his future. Both superstars are still tight-lipped about their impending free agency, but it'll soon come forth come to the end of this season.
