Traina Thoughts: Kyrie Irving's Apology to LeBron James Is Too Little Too Late

Kyrie Irving called LeBron James to apologize for his behavior in Cleveland.

Elsa/Getty Images

1. Yes, I'm a cynic, but all I could do when I saw that Kyrie Irving admit that he called LeBron James a couple of weeks ago to apolgize for "being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips" was roll my eyes.

📹 Kyrie explains why he called LeBron James after finally understood what being a leader is all about pic.twitter.com/oZsXKIMeSq

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) January 17, 2019

What a lame spin by the Celtics guard. Yes, you wanted everything at your fingertips, but here's what you really did in Cleveland: You demanded a trade and went out of your way to NOT play with the greatest basketball player on the face of the earth even though you were supposed to be on that team for a few more years. You literally left a team that had the best player in the game and you did this right after winning a championship. 

Not only that, in the process, whether intentional or not, you tried to make LeBron look like the bad guy. You helped create a narrative that LeBron was not easy to play with. The same guy who has been to the NBA Finals eight times and has won three titles. That was the guy you couldn't handle playing with anymore. It was ridiculous then and it's ridiculous now.

The obvious take on the apology is that Irving has grown up and matured and realized the error of his ways. I might be able to buy that if Kyrie didn't just casually mention his phone call to James during a postgame press conference last night, while the Celtics are in the middle of a rough patch that saw Irving involved in controversy. The revelation came off as contrived and planned more than authentic.

I'll bet LeBron takes the high road and does nothing but praise Kyrie for the call, but I wouldn't blame the King if he just said, "Hey, Kyrie left me with a hot mess that included J.R. Smith, George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Korver and Jeff Green and I still go our asses to an NBA Finals, so I don't really care about his apology."

2. What a night for James Harden. He dropped 58 points on the Nets to continue his run of domination.

James Harden's scoring during his 30-point game streak which began December 13th:

50
32
47
35
35
39
41
45
41
43
44
38
32
42
43
38
57
58

42.2 points per game.

Not. Human. pic.twitter.com/IHZpXeGKtt

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 17, 2019

James Harden's historic season continues.
He's averaging 44 PTS, 9.2 AST, 8.6 REB in January!

LAST 2 GAMES:
58 PTS (16-34 FG, 5-19 3PT, 21-23 FT) 10 REB, 6 AST

57 PTS (17-33 FG, 6-15 3PT, 17-18 FT) 9 REB, 2 ASTpic.twitter.com/lwNJ0s4UNZ

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 17, 2019

And this might be the wildest stat of all.

James Harden has scored 57 or more points in 2 consecutive games.
ZERO of his made shots in those two games were assisted.
Not a single one

— Mike Zavagno (@MZavagno11) January 17, 2019

However, with the Rockets losing to the Nets, Harden was not in the mood to celebrate his indiviudal accomplishments. 

James Harden pushes away camera and loudly yells "FUCK" after scoring 58 points in tough overtime loss to Nets pic.twitter.com/5fQkXdtSQU

— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) January 17, 2019

3. Mike Tyson has a message about that stupid egg Instagram thing.

Stop sending me this shit pic.twitter.com/JfJ8uCHqVt

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) January 16, 2019

4. Someone needs to find this Bill Belichick doppleganger and interview him. Does he always wear a Patriots shirt? Does he always get booed wherever he goes? So many questions.

Funniest moment of first half... they showed Peyton Manning on the jumbotron - and then right after happened to show this guy that looked exactly like Belichick 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/8neTANbwfD

— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) January 17, 2019

5. Yes, I'm biased because I don't like the guy, but this really wasn't played perfectly. Someone who played it perfectly woudn't have winked at the camera to let us know a big joke was coming as if we couldn't figure it out. And not to get all conspiracy theory on you, but how convenient that someone just happened to be randomly filming all this.

"That's the guy that @JLo is dating...are you...you're not, right?" 😂@AROD played it perfectly pic.twitter.com/bKMiAuhvuC

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 16, 2019

6. This week's SI Media Podcast features an interview with Bill Walton on life philosophy, going to more than 900 Grateful Dead concerts, his broadcasting career and overcoming back pain that had him contemplating suicide. You can listen to the podcast below or download it on iTunes.

Also, this is happening so I can't stress this enough: SUBSCRIBE TO THE SI MEDIA PODCAST.

I just got off the phone with Steve Carrell and we chatted about Stress Relief, Basketball & Casino Night. I'm not allowed to complain about my job for a loooooooooong time. Interview will be on an upcoming edition of the SI Media Podcast. Subscribe here: https://t.co/3QCvCXscR1 pic.twitter.com/mab3bEhUUa

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) January 16, 2019

7. Today is a crazy day for celebrity birthdays.

Shit, forgot Ray J. Can't forget Ray J and his contribution to society.

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) January 17, 2019

8. RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE DAY: It's been too long since I posted a vintage Rock promo.

Traina Thoughts is the best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. Get the link to a new Traina's Thoughts each day by following on Twitter and liking on Facebook. Catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts right here.And make sure to listen to and subscribe to the SI Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina.

IN CLOSING: Funniest thing in sports this week has been the Patriots "Woe is us, we're such big underdogs" nonsense.