Kyrie Irving famously had to call LeBron James for leadership advice during this turbulent season with the Celtics, which ended with a five-game series loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
Perhaps he'll be closer than a phone call away next season.
Via ESPN's Brian Windhorst (h/t to HoopsHype), comes word that what he once thought of as impossible after Irving's celebrated trade demand and departure from Cleveland to Boston (Windhorst covered the Cavaliers for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer and ESPN), could come to pass.
Windhorst said the door for Irving-to-the-Lakers might be "opening more by the day" and the would-be free agent has had discussions about playing for the Lakers.
As time passes here, I would’ve said that this is impossible for many months. But as time passes here and as the possibility exists that Jason Kidd could be hired as the Lakers coach, I think the possibility of Kyrie and LeBron reuniting — that door, which was deadbolted, has been un-deadbolted and has now been cracked open … It might even be opening more by the day. And I say that just because I think it’s on Kyrie’s radar, it’s on Kyrie’s board. He has had discussions with people about playing for the Lakers.
The Lakers had longer odds to land Kyrie than the Celtics in the aftermath of the C's elimination, but they'll have salary cap space to make a big move in free agency. What they don't have at the moment is a coach (talks broke down this week to bring James and Irving's former coach with the Cavs to L.A.) and they appeared to be in disarray after Magic Johnson's departure as team president following a season where they brought in James but failed to make the playoffs.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.
Boston Celtics
