When the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers unit gathered for their championship reunion without their mercurial point guard, the rumor mill exploded, old wounds reopened, and fans prepared for another chapter in one of basketball’s most complex stories. JR Smith and Richard Jefferson were left fielding questions on Kyrie Irving’s behalf. And Smith’s response only made things worse…

“Missing none,” he wrote on Instagram. “He was invited and ghosted us all. So stop with that bs.” The comment, though widely seen as a teammate ribbing with real edge to it, instantly became the biggest talking point of the entire trip. Then Irving went live on Twitch. The Mavericks guard looked into the camera and broke down the narrative piece by piece.

“Me and my teammates, me and my brothers who played on the Cavs, bro, we are good,” Irving emphasized during the live stream. “We are more than good.”

Irving appeared frustrated as he explained that the outside perception of the situation completely misses the mark on his real friendship with LeBron James & Co., who just wrapped the London and Scotland leg of the reunion.

“Me and my teammates who won a championship together in 2016, we are straight, y’all,” Irving continued. “It’s all love. When I get back to the States, I’m going to pop in with them. Going to chop it up. We going to have a great time. All right, we’re going to leave it at that because the immaturity behind using media to spin narratives is psychotic, bro. Psychotic.”

Fans feared an irreparable disconnect between Kyrie and the 2016 team. He addressed fans’ concerns with a reminder that it’s nothing new.

“I’ve been in this media storm for about 10 years-11 years, it’s okay,” Irving said. “It’s not meant to be understood. That’s how people make money, too, right?”

Irving added that, at 34, his personal growth and strong family foundations keep him from being “tricked out of his position” by recycled media drama, and he stated that his bond with the historic 2016 team remains entirely intact.

Kyrie Irving’s teammates responded to his absence

According to NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, Irving never RSVP’d to the European trip at all because his schedule was already locked before it was organized.

From June 8 to June 12, Irving was in Rock Hill, South Carolina, serving as a mentor at the NBPA Top 100 Camp alongside veterans like Rajon Rondo, Shaun Livingston, Tyson Chandler, and Andre Drummond. Plus, former Cavaliers assistant Phil Handy, who was with the team during that same 2016 championship run.

After the camp, Irving returned to Northern New Jersey for community visits at Teaneck and West Orange High Schools, both of which have ties to his Anta partnership. His Anta “The Return” World Tour, which took place during the reunion, didn’t begin until June 22 in Shanghai, days after the controversy had already peaked.

Even though Smith later said that the dates of his public schedule didn’t overlap with the trip, Scoop B confirmed that Smith is not being petty. Before the Twitch stream, Irving had already posted on Instagram, sharing a graphic of the full 2016 roster and coaching staff, including Tyronn Lue, with the message:

“All for one. One for All. WE completed the mission together as brothers, and that’s all that matters to me.”

At 34, and coming off an ACL tear that cost him the entire 2025-26 season, he said his personal growth and family foundation kept him from being pulled into recycled drama. His bond with the 2016 team, he insisted, remained intact.

The proof came quickly. Smith followed up with an Instagram story that settled the temperature on the whole saga: “He reached out! We GOOD! God Bless the young GAWD!!!! Greatest PG I’ve played with.”

These responses come from a longstanding relationship of mutual respect and banter.

As the core members of the 2016 championship team traveled across the pond to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their historic 3-1 comeback against the Golden State Warriors, Richard Jefferson joined them following his ESPN commitments during the NBA Finals.

What started with shopping at Audemars Piguet in London and a golf getaway around the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland expanded into a jealousy-inducing European vacation.

The group flew to St. Tropez next, where they were joined by Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova. Delly especially made the trip from Australia, where he currently plays. They’ve kept up the social media antics, too, while letting us in on every hilarious update. 

Irving, meanwhile, is gearing up for a more consequential return: his first NBA games since March 3, 2025. With Cooper Flagg now in Dallas and the Mavericks restructured around a new front office and head coach, the reunion that will matter most to Irving isn’t a European golf trip. It’s tip-off.