LeBron James says Kyrie Irving’s comments implying lack of faith in late-game

Months ago, LeBron James bit his tongue when Kyrie Irving‘s comments on Kevin Durant‘s podcast seemed to disparage the Los Angeles Lakers star’s late-game abilities. Now, James has opened up about his former teammate’s take on a podcast appearance of his own.

James, appearing as a guest on the Road Trippin’ podcast with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Allie Clifton, addressed Irving’s comments — in which Irving praised Durant as the first teammate he could trust as much as he trusts himself to take the last shot of the game — in an episode that aired Monday on Spectrum SportsNet.

“I was a little like, ‘Damn.’ Once I got the whole transcript, I was like, ‘Damn,'” James said, adding that he made sure to read Irving’s full comments before reacting to them. “I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, you trippin’. I’ve hit game-winning shots my whole life.’ I was not like that. I was like, ‘Damn.’ Because … I played with Kyrie for three seasons [with the Cleveland Cavaliers]. The whole time when I was there, I only wanted to see him be a MVP of our league. I only cared about his success. And it just didn’t align. It just didn’t align. And we were 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.”

The Brooklyn Nets guard’s comments, which were released on the debut episode of Durant’s podcast, “The Etcs,” just days before James and the Lakers played the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the NBA Finals in October, omitted James’ capabilities in clutch time as Irving reflected on his basketball career.

“One thing I’ve always been comfortable with, I felt like I was the best option on every team I played for down the stretch,” Irving said on the podcast. “This is the first time in my career I’ve looked down and be like, ‘That motherf—er can make that shot too.’ And he’ll probably do it a lot easier.

“It’s not so much deferring, because in past situations where I didn’t take the last shot, I felt guilty. I want this game-winning shot, but also, you want to trust your teammates. Not that I didn’t trust my teammates, but I felt like I was the best option.”

Irving and James played together from 2014 to 2017, making it to three straight Finals and winning it all in 2016. 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.

“It was a f—ed up time. It was a f—ed up time,” James said. “Because it was the Finals … the middle of the Finals.”

Although James said he has become accustomed to distractions as his teams near the championship — a racist epithet was spray-painted on the gate of his L.A. home on the eve of the 2017 Finals, for instance — Irving’s comments were unavoidable.

“It’s always been something that, when I’ve been in the Finals, that comes out to try to distract me from my mission. So I was already ready for it … I’ve always been prepared to know that there’s going to be something said or done to try to knock me off of my mission,” James said. “When I was seeing that and I read it, and then I got the full transcript and I heard it, I was like, ‘Man, f—.’ I was like, ‘Are you f—ing kidding me?’ … I was like, ‘God damn.'”

James reflected on his time with Irving in Cleveland, laughing when he recalled that his son Bryce was “super juiced” for his dad to play for the Cavs because Irving was so dominant in the video games Bryce had played.

James also marveled at Irving, who was just 22 years old when they teamed up on the Cavs.

“Ky is one of the most talented players I’ve ever played with in my life. The kid — I don’t even want to call him ‘kid.’ He’s not a kid anymore, but back then, he was. He was a young kid still growing into his own, and the s— that he was capable of on the floor I had never seen before,” James said. “I had so much confidence in him. I actually told Kyrie, I told him at one point when we were playing together that if you were not a league MVP someday, then you were selling yourself short. Because that’s how much I believed in him.

“And it was part of the reason why I came back home. Besides the unfinished business, I came back home because I saw the talent in him.”

James said he tried to shield Irving from scrutiny when they played together.

“Anytime the media would ask questions about Kyrie — and we had multiple times when the media wanted to s— on Kyrie — I was the buffer,” James said. “I was like, ‘No, listen, you guys are tripping. This kid is young, he’s great, he’s going to learn, I’m here to help him learn, and I know what he’s going to become.’

“And sometimes, you know, you put yourself out there, and you get hit in the mouth when you’re not ready for it.”

Irving hasn’t received a vote for MVP, let alone won the…