While LeBron James did little publicly or privately to dispel the rift between he and Kyrie Irving last offseason, multiple sources say he asked the Cavaliers not to trade him.

James promised to bridge the apparent gap with him.

But James was told that the Cavaliers had no choice but to trade Irving.

"I went straight to the guy," James said in September, describing his interaction with Irving before he was traded.

"(Irving) basically just let me know that that was the direction that he wanted to go in," James said. "And I was OK with that. And it's a business. I understand that. It doesn't stop me from leading this franchise and leading this team and going on about it."