On Sunday, Kyrie Irving was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Dallas Mavericks. Following the blockbuster transaction, his former teammate, LeBron James, was quite vocal about his displeasure with the Lakers' inability to reunite the two of them in Los Angeles. 

"I can't sit here and say I'm not disappointed on not being able to land such a talent," James said to Michael Wilbon during an exclusive interview with ESPN. "Someone I had great chemistry with, I know I got great chemistry with on the floor, that can help you win championships in my mind, in my eyes. But my focus has shifted now, my focus has shifted back to where it should be, and that's this club now and what we have now."

On the surface, the comment appeared to be honest and harmless, but it could also be perceived as somewhat unsympathetic to the notion that his greatest teammate ever, Anthony Davis, is in his prime and currently on his roster, along with future NBA hall of famer Russell Westbrook and key role players like Patrick Beverley, Dennis Schröder, and Thomas Bryant. Previously in 2019, LeBron's public demand for trades and roster upgrades isolated his former Laker teammates Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, and Brandon Ingram when he made his feelings known that he wanted his team's general manager (Rob Pelinka) and the owner (Jeanie Buss) to pull off a trade for Anthony Davis. In the years that followed, the tandem of LeBron and AD delivered Los Angles its 16th in 2020, but since then, the team has deteriorated, and now, NBA pundits are starting to speculate whether or not the relationship between the Lakers' top two players has also soured.

Last night, when LeBron broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record in the third quarter of the Lakers' regular season contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA orchestrated a stoppage to honor "The King." There were standing ovations and celebratory gestures all across the arena, except for the Lakers bench, where LeBron's co-star, AD, remained seated with a stoic look on his face without mustering up so much as a single clap. The following morning, former NBA player Jalen Rose took to the airwaves on Get up (EPSN) to condemn AD for his lackluster response to LeBron's record-setting evening before speculating if the two could co-exist the rest of the season.

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Source: Twitter