A few hours after news of Kyrie Irving’s trade to the Boston Celtics broke, former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James spoke out.
Cleveland traded Irving for Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas, small forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Žižić and the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first-round NBA Draft pick.
James, who is expected to leave Cleveland after this season, wrote a message supporting Irving’s decision to seek a trade late Tueday night.
“Nothing but respect and what a ride it was our 3 years together,” James wrote in part.
Irving requested a trade in July after three-straight trips to the NBA Finals with James.
Enhancing the drama from the trade, Cleveland and Boston will open the 2017-2018 against each other at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena on Oct. 18.
Here’s how other NBA players reacted to the Kyrie-IT trade:
