Kyrie Irving Finally Put Words To His Actions, And Basically Said That He Doesn't Care What LeBron Thinks

.@KyrieIrving on why he didn't inform LeBron James that he wanted out of Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/WF9GlCA54o

— First Take (@FirstTake) September 18, 2017

You see, now this is the type of spite I can respect. Screw all that passive aggressive, behind-the-screen nonsense that had the basketball world wondering what had the foundation of the Eastern Conference empire that was the Cleveland Cavaliers crumbling from underneath it. Maybe I am showing my age here, but I would rather have a cocky 25 year old come out and say he didn't give a damn about the opinion of the best player in the sport while making a decision about his own future than implying as much through a vague, subliminal SnapChat. 

Whether or not Kyrie Irving reaches the same level of success without playing next to a teammate whose mere presence alone annually guaranteed him the most prestigious platform that basketball has to offer remains to be seen. However, I'll be damned if I don't respect him going on national television and saying he didn't owe LeBron James so much as an awkward goodbye when a pissed off LeBron James is now the only person standing in the way of him going to a 4th straight NBA Final. If nothing else, that antagonistic unveiling of true resentment via the proverbial mic drop that was a laughably condescending "no?" should fuel quite the rivalry....until LeBron James inevitably bolts for sunny Southern California in eerily unspoken and self-serving fashion next summer.