Kyrie Irving confirmed what we already knew, LeBron James was the GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers

Kyrie Irving confirmed long-time rumors that LeBron James had great influence over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Fans have long believed that LeBron James had great influence over the Cleveland Cavaliers during his two stints with the franchise. No one had to confirm this, it was pretty obvious just from how things were handled, and that a lot of the guys that James wanted ending up in Cleveland 90% of the time. Granted, there were times he was overruled, for instance, the Amar’e Stoudemire trade that didn’t happen because the Cavs didn’t want to part ways with J.J. Hickson.

Had Stoudamire ended up in Cleveland, the Cavs maybe don’t lose James that following offseason.

Yet, any doubt that James was in fact “LeGM” was ended when former Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving revealed that the Cavs did in fact kowtow to James’ whims more often than not. Speaking on the I Am Athlete Podcast, Irving revealed that James put the squad together (or at least was very influential);

"LeBron was behind the scenes… what’s his nickname, LeGM? He put the squad together. He put the squad together. I wasn’t mad at him."

LeBron James did as much good as he did badly as the Cavaliers’ “GM”

While we don’t know what moves James directly influenced or demanded, judging by his track record, any trade involving young players for veterans was more than likely his doing. In Cleveland, the Cavs traded away Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for Kevin Love, a trade that worked out for the Cavaliers.

In Los Angeles, the Lakers traded away Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart for Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. Two trades that, in hindsight, may have been shortsighted.

One move we do know that James facilitated was JR Smiths’ new contract in the fall of 2016 when the shooting guard got $57 million, an absurd number for a one-dimensional player. He would fall off a cliff as a player as soon as the deal was done, proving that James didn’t always have the pulse of a team as well as he may think he did.

James won two titles in Cleveland and Los Angeles with the influence he had, so while he did achieve his desired goal, at least in Los Angeles, he may have cost himself even more success had he just been a bit more patient.