Kyrie Irving and LeBron James formed quite a formidable duo on the Cleveland Cavaliers for a few years. They were teammates from the 2014-15 season through the 2016-17 campaign, and in that span with them leading the way, the Cavaliers were one of the most successful teams in the league.
Cleveland reached the NBA Finals in each season with the duo and even won its first title in franchise history in 2016.
However, the Cavaliers didn’t win another title with James and Irving after the Golden State Warriors signed Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016. Durant, a known troll, took to X recently and claimed that he rejoices every morning that Cleveland wasn’t able to build a dynasty.
😂😂😂 I rejoice every morning that it didn’t happen
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) May 9, 2025
The Warriors signed Durant not long after the team blew a 3-1 lead to James, Irving and the Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals. Golden State added Durant to a team that had just recently won a league-record 73 games in the 2015-16 regular season.
In Irving’s last season in Cleveland and Durant’s maiden season in Golden State, the Cavaliers and Warriors crossed paths once again in the 2017 NBA Finals.
The Warriors proved to be too much to handle for the Cavaliers with Durant in the fold, as Golden State won the best-of-seven series in five games, and Durant was named the Finals MVP. He averaged more than 35 points per game during the championship series.
Cleveland’s loss in the 2017 NBA Finals marked the nail in the coffin for Irving’s stint as a Cavalier, as he requested a trade that summer and was dealt to the Boston Celtics. The Cavaliers got a trade package centered around Isaiah Thomas in return.
James spent one more season with the Cavs after Irving left, which resulted in another trip to the NBA Finals in 2018 in which the team fell to the Warriors again.
When the Warriors captured the 2018 title, they became the first NBA team to repeat as champions since the James-led Miami Heat. Today, the Warriors are still the last team to repeat. Golden State reached the 2019 NBA Finals as well, where it lost to the Toronto Raptors.
