NBA News: Kyrie Irving remains close to LeBron James
Duke University basketball player Kyrie Irving does not believe that being close to former Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James will make create an awkward situation, if he is picked by the Cavs in next month’s 2011 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft.
Irving is the most promising prospect in this years’ draft. However, the Duke star was able to play only 11 games in this years’ collegiate championship, due to a turf toe injury. During that stretch, James made it a point to check on the young star.
"He's definitely filled like a big brother role in my life, just giving me advice," Irving said of James on Wednesday. "When I got hurt, he was talking to me every single week, telling me to keep my faith. That relationship is special to me just based on the fact that I have someone in the NBA already that's giving me advice on what things to do and what things not to do."
Irving has been close to James for a long time now but has never thought of joining Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the agency that represents James, or of signing with the LRMR, James’ marketing firm. All of these factors may have an effect on Cavaliers fans, who just love to hate LeBron.
However, Irving and James’ relationship is not a strange one. Irving is not the first budding star whom James has mentored. James has also guided John Wall from the time when he was still a freshman at the University of Kentucky. He was, and still is, on great terms with Chris Paul, whom Irving idolized when growing up.
Some would say that James gets close to high-profile college players so that he can convince them to join LRMR and CAA but Irving says that it was not that way with him.
"CAA never officially recruited me," Irving said. "I was close with LeBron and a couple of affiliates with CAA, but they never recruited me."
However, critics also say that college players are not mature enough to recognize the fine line between recruiting and friendship, as well as when those so-called “friends” are crossing that line.
Irving said that he defines recruiting as someone blatantly asking him to join the CAA but says that such an event never occurred. He sees no reason to hide or apologize for his relationship with James, saying that it was James who kept him going when he spent three months on the sideline because of a toe injury. Irving also said that the only person that he wants to or feels comfortable talking to about life in the NBA is James.
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