Ex-Cavs Star Admits LeBron James Forced Cleveland to Waive Him for Dwyane Wade

Back in the 2017–18 season, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade reunited on the Cleveland Cavaliers. By that point, James and Wade had already established themselves as a successful duo, having won two championships with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013. With that in mind, the Cavaliers' front office had to decide which key player to let go to make room for Wade. And former Cavs star Richard Jefferson admitted that it was James who got him waived by the Cavaliers so they could bring in Wade.

Jefferson was a key figure in Cleveland's championship victory in 2016. However, given the level of friendship and the amount of success the King and the Flash had together in previous seasons, making room for D-Wade made more sense.

"I wasn't there," Jefferson said. "Like when I got traded, or when Bron waived me, look, it was between one of his favorite teammates and one of his best friends. It was like when D-Wade got bought out, and he came, I’m looking around like, 'There's a roster problem here.' And they're like, 'Yeah, Richard, we know.'"

While the idea of Wade helping James chase more championships, this time in Cleveland, sounded promising, their second stint together was short-lived. The King and the Flash played together for only 46 games before Wade got traded back to the Miami Heat.

According to reports in 2018, Wade had always wanted to go back to Miami. This was mainly due to his family residing in Florida at the time. James and the Cavs acknowledged Wade's situation and traded him out of respect.

Keeping that in mind, it's too bad that Jefferson was sacrificed only to find out that the Cavs would eventually let go of Wade.

LeBron James reunites with former Cavaliers teammates

One of the most legendary teams in NBA history is arguably the 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers. Back in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Cavs completed the biggest comeback in history, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Golden State Warriors. To this day, Cleveland is the only team to ever accomplish such a feat.

Given the importance of that team, many basketball fans and analysts still look back to the day that LeBron James brought home the Cavs' first title in franchise history.

Fast forward 10 years, and it appears that the brotherhood remains strong for the 2016 NBA champions. James and Co. recently went on a European vacation. To be specific, the King was with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Richard Jefferson, J.R. Smith, and Channing Frye.

On Jefferson's end, it seems that his relationship with James remains solid despite the whole Dwyane Wade scenario in Cleveland in 2017. However, one notable name who wasn't part of the trip was none other than Kyrie Irving.

While James was undoubtedly the guy who led the Cavs to success in 2016, we can't discredit the contributions of Irving at the time. He was the team's second option and, at times, was asked to be the go-to player.

Smith went on social media to address Irving's absence on the trip.

"Missing none," Smith commented on Instagram. "He was invited and ghosted us all. So stop with that BS."

As of this writing, Irving has yet to comment on his absence. However, NBA insider Scoop B reported that his absence was due to a fully booked schedule he had prior to the European vacation plan.