Something about Kyrie Irving’s trade-me bombshell, which landed last Friday and shattered the N.B.A.’s midsummer quietude, seemed eerily familiar. But maybe more from the viewpoint of LeBron James, who apparently had no inkling until recently that Irving’s ultimatum was coming.
And how could that be? James, we know, has two of the most penetrating player eyes for organizational detail in the history of professional basketball, to go along with his pinpoint peripheral vision on the court. Yet in lieu of Irving’s professed desire to move on from James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, it is fair to wonder if James has spent too much time — off the court, that is — looking mostly at his own reflection, à la Bill Parcells, 17 years ago.