Irving remembers the good times when he and James played together

BOSTON – Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving had settled into his seat at Media Day for only a few seconds on Wednesday when a question came flying his way regarding former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James.

Apparently, James said this week on his podcast — which he shares with ex-Mavs guard JJ Redick – that he’s proud of the growth Irving has made, but is “mad at the same time that I’m not his running mate anymore.” Asked about that, Irving, while smiling, said he did hear about it, then added: “Is that the first question? Oh, God, I love it. Got to love this, man.

“Shout out to LeBron for that. (He) knows how to stir up a media storm, get everybody in here talking about us.”

Irving said he has a “great reaction” to the comments made by James, and that “it’s appreciated” what the Los Angeles Laker superstar had to say.

“There’s a lot of gratitude there, as well,” Irving said. “Obviously, I’m in a different age, different place in my life. So is he. I think we both have been able to mature and really appreciate what we got a chance to accomplish.

“I think there were some things that got in the way of our relationship when I was a little bit younger. Now that I’m able to vocalize how I feel as a man, be comfortable in it, stand on my square, my beliefs, where I’m coming from, I feel like our relationship’s different because of that now. (I) definitely miss him.”

With Irving and James at the controls, the Cavs advanced to the NBA Finals in 2015, ’16 and ’17. All three of those Finals appearances came against Golden State, with Irving drilling the series-clinching jumper on the road in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.

“I definitely think about those times,” Irving said. “Yeah, just a mutual respect there for what we brought to the table. His leadership, my leadership style, I think it meshed very well. I was learning a lot from him that I’m appreciative for the rest of my life.”

On his podcast, James also said: “To have a guy like Kyrie Irving as the ultimate wild card, it’s like having a Draw 4 in your hand every time someone deals you cards in Uno. He’s the most gifted player the NBA has ever seen.

“He has the best gifts I’ve ever seen in any NBA player.”

Irving was taken aback by those remarks from James.

“Man, when he says comments like that, I think back to us having those moments where we’re down in a series, up in a series, we’re really demanding greatness from each other,” Irving said.

PORZINGIS HAS LOVE FOR MAVS: Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis admitted Wednesday that he has some very fond memories of his time playing for the Mavs.

“Not all of it was, like, not good, right?,” Porzingis rhetorically asked. “We had some good moments. We had some decent moments. Yeah, overall, I think it didn’t work for both sides. It wasn’t perfect.

“But, like I would say everything — teammates, locker room — I know at that time there were some rumors there’s like something in the locker room. It was never like that. It’s all just noise at the end.”

Porzingis said he’s always had a good relationship with Mavs point guard Luka Dončić, and Dončić also said the same thing.

“As I said, he’s one of the best players in the league, in the world,” Porzingis said. “It will be a tough challenge for us to try to stop him. Just following his career when he came in the league, already made a huge impact.

“I had the opportunity to play with him for a couple years, get to know him. Just knowing what type of person he is, what type of player he is, his mindset, he’s a special player. We have a big challenge ahead of us competing against somebody like that.”

Porzingis, who was expected to be a co-star to Dončić, played for the Mavs from Jan. 31, 2019 until they traded him to the Washington Wizards on Feb. 10, 2022. He originally came to the Mavs from New York in a deal which also include the No. 24 overall pick going to the Knicks in this year’s NBA Draft.

“It wasn’t just perfect for us playing together,” Porzingis said. “It didn’t work out, that’s it. We moved on. There’s no, like, ill-will from their side, for sure from my side. I don’t think there should be.

“(It) just didn’t work out. But I have nothing but love for Dallas and for the teammates and for everybody there.”

EMBRACE THE FINALS, AND ENJOY IT: Mavs coach Jason Kidd said when he was playing for New Jersey, and the Nets got swept, 4-0, in the 2002 NBA Finals by a Los Angeles Lakers squad led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, in retrospect it’s easy for him to analyze exactly what happened.

“Sometimes you don’t have enough talent,” Kidd said. “As I brought up the Lakers and Nets, we were happy to be there, but we just didn’t have enough talent to beat Kobe and Shaq. It could be that simple. But nerves sometimes play a part, too. Just the human side of things.

“But at the end of the day, as much as we’ve talked about it, to embrace it, to stay steady, and to enjoy this time because you’re not promised anything to come back the following year. We have an opportunity here to find a way to win on the road. That’s how we’re approaching it. That’s what the Finals are all about is seeing what team is going to step forward and take advantage of mistakes.”

BRIEFLY: The NBA has released the names of the 12 referees who will officiate this year’s NBA Finals. Here’s the list with, in parathesis, how many different years the referee has officiated in the NBA Finals. They are: Tony Brothers (13), James Capers (12), Marc Davis (13), Scott Foster (17), John Goble (8), David Guthrie (7), Bill Kennedy (6), Courtney Kirkland (4), Kevin Scott (2), Josh Tiven (5), James Williams (4) and Zach Zarba (11). Foster has officiated 24 NBA Finals games, followed by Davis with 20 and Brothers with 16. Tyler Ford and Ben Taylor have been assigned as alternate referees for the NBA Finals. . .Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis has been cleared to play in Game 1. But he said it’s tough to say how effective he’ll be because he hasn’t played since April 29 when he strained his right calf in Game 4 of the first-round series against Miami. “Tomorrow will be my real, like, first real minutes in a while, you know,” Porzingis said. “I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment, but there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get tomorrow. It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this.” . . . Mavs center Daniel Gafford, when asked what type of advantage the Mavs have in this best-of-seven series against the Celtics, said: “Just coming out, setting the tone. We got a lot of energy around this team. We got a great atmosphere around this team. If we come out with our heads on straight, I feel like it’s going to be a pretty good situation.” . . . The Celtics lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, and they also lost to the Miami Heat in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. This year, the Celtics came roaring back and won the East with a 64-18 record and were the only NBA team to win 60-plus games. “I think you can see in our excitement when we won the conference,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. “Obviously, that’s not the end all, be all, but it really is tough to get to this moment. I’m not thinking about what it would mean for my legacy or anything like that. Just excited to play some basketball after this long break and go out there and try to get the job done.” . . . Guillermo Rodriguez, the sidekick on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, was among the several hundred media folks who attended Wednesday’s Media Day. Rodriguez did several skits with players from both teams, which will be seen on Kimmel’s show on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. on ABC . . . To say that Mavs second-year guard Jaden Hardy is ready for Game 1 to start would be the understatement of the day. “This experience is amazing,” Hardy said. “I look at it as a blessing. A lot of people play their careers and never get a chance to play in the Finals. I would never take this for granted. I’m just super grateful to be here. Can’t wait to get started.”

X: @DwainPrice