The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2016 championship core linked up in Europe this week, but Kyrie Irving was not in the photos. J.R. Smith then said Irving had been invited, turning a missing face into the story instead of the reunion itself.
Smith Answers Fan Chatter
Smith wrote, “Missing none,” after a fan assumed the group had left Irving out. He followed that with, “He was invited and ghosted us all. So stop with that bs.”
That response changed the read on the trip. The absence was not presented as an exclusion from the group, and Smith did not use Irving’s name directly even while addressing the point that had spread online.
LeBron James Joins Reunion Photos
LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Richard Jefferson appeared in the Europe vacation photos. The trip marked the 10-year anniversary of the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers championship, the title that tied that group together in the first place.
Kyrie Irving’s missing spot carried extra weight because his relationship with Cleveland has been more complicated since his 2017 trade request. He had also shown love to the city and former teammates in interviews over the last few years, which made the reunion absence stand out even more once the photos surfaced.
Kyrie Irving And The Cavaliers
Fans first noticed that Irving was absent from the trip, then Smith’s comments answered the main question around the photos: he was invited. That leaves the reunion story focused on choice, not omission, and on a former teammate who did not show up when the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers championship group gathered in Europe.
For the Cavaliers core, the trip was a celebration of the NBA championship they won in 2016. For Irving, the public thread is now simple: he was invited to the 2016 Cavs reunion, and Smith says he did not come.
