5 Winners and losers of the Kyrie Irving trade

Loser: LeBron James

As the memes flood and the Lakers’ options grow even bleaker, LeBron James ponders ” Maybe It Me. ” No Bron, it’s the Nets’ owner not wanting to send Irving to his preferred destination.

Still, this news is unfortunate for James, something that can be said about almost every recent report in relation to Los Angeles.

According to Marc Stein, it seems that Rob Pelinka did offer LA’s 2027 and 29 first-round picks for Irving, but Nets owner Joe Tsai declined, knowing Irving wanted to play for the Lakers. Obviously, this is out of the LA’s control, but it certainly hurts.

Not only does the deal mean Los Angeles missed out on their top trade target, but their competition in the West will only get better. While the Mavs and Lakers are separated by seven seeds ranking fifth and 12th in the Western Conference, respectively, Dallas is only three games ahead of Los Angeles.

It’s funny how the actions of Irving ended up costing James what could be his last chance at a title, and yet he was the player who contributed the most besides James himself in winning James his third and undoubtedly his most memorable trophy in 2016. That’s the NBA for you.