Kyrie Irving says goodbye to Cleveland, doesn’t mention LeBron (Video)

Kyrie Irving finally acknowledged the trade on social media, sharing a four-minute long farewell video to Cleveland, without mentioning LeBron James.

While the trade between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers centered around Kyrie Irving has been close to the finish line for nearly a week, it finally became official on Wednesday.

Boston added a 2020 second-round pick to their package of Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick for Irving. Now that the trade has become official, Irving finally went public with his message to the fans of Cleveland.

He originally published the video via his Instagram, but it was made available on Twitter through this fan, who’s posted it in two separate parts below:

Irving starts off by speaking on why he asked to be traded, looking for a place that would be “conducive to his talent and maximize his potential.” It was clear that from the start, Irving was looking for a team that he could lead and build around him, rather than another superstar.

He continued to thank different people from the organization, mentioning Dan Gilbert and other front-office management. Irving didn’t mention any teammates in particular, but thanked them in general.

It seemed odd that after three years with LeBron, Irving wouldn’t even mention his name in his farewell video. Shortly after the trade rumors came out, James did go to Twitter to thank Irving for what he brought.

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This only builds the drama for the season opener in Cleveland in October, when Irving and the Celtics come back to Quicken Loans Arena to take on LeBron and the new look Cavaliers. The major question is Isaiah Thomas’ health and if he’ll be starting the season in a suit on the bench.

The Eastern Conference got real interesting with the trade and the video from Irving didn’t squash any beef between the two parties.