The Brooklyn Nets traded Irving to the Dallas Mavericks Sunday afternoon following the 30-year-old’s trade ultimatum Friday.
The Lakers were believed to be interested in the wantaway guard which would have seen him reunite with James after the two played together with the Cleveland Cavaliers for three seasons.
But the Lakers, along with the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles rivals the Clippers, missed out on Irving.
Following the news of Irving’s trade to Dallas, James shared a cryptic, three-word message on social media.
The Lakers superstar took to Twitter just hours after Irving’s trade, writing: ‘Maybe It’s Me’
Taking to Twitter, the Lakers superstar, who is just 36 points of the NBA’s all-time scoring record, wrote: ‘Maybe it’s me.’
LeBron James posts cryptic tweet just hours after….
It is unclear if James was referring to Irving’s blockbuster trade but the timing was interesting with the post coming just a few hours after the news broke.
The previous night, James had been asked whether Irving could be the player that increases the Lakers’ chance to win their second NBA title in the last four seasons and he had a simple response – ‘Duh.’
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The Lakers, who are trying to inject some life into their season, tried to get involved as Irving was interested in going to LA.
The franchise are currently 25-29 and in 13th place in the West – 2.5 games out of the play-in tournament.
But they and James had their hopes dashed after the Irving headed to Dallas instead with Nets owner Joe Tsai’s objective being to not send the guard to Los Angeles, according to Marc Stein.
Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks Sunday afternoon, ending his controversial tenure with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Lakers were also linked with a move for Irving but, according to ESPN, the Nets preferred the package on offer from Dallas. The picks the Nets get in the deal are a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2029 second round-pick.
Irving also has history with Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison – who previously worked at Nike – and Dallas have been said to be keen to go