What should have been an extended celebration for the 10th anniversary of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ championship gathered rumors of a rift. Kyrie Irving spoke his heart out about why he was absent from meeting LeBron James and co. Now, Richard Jefferson, one of the major contributors to the Cavs team and an organiser of this trip, shed some light.

“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to go, Jefferson said on the

Road Trippin podcast when asked if the whole team was invited. “I wasn’t going to the RSVPs and the e-invites. But I think everybody has reached out. This is the part that gets muddled. So, when we talk about a group chat with the team, there are six of us. And it has been the same six.  There was the full-team group and the one with the other guys.

“Then, we start doing, ‘Hey guys, we should get together. Do some golf and do this.’ And the conversation kinda got like, ‘Hey, it would be wrong if we didn’t invite some other guys. So, it was the group chat from the Championship team and not the Championship team group chat. There’s a difference. We were the old heads, the old guys on the team.

“We love all of the people involved. It’s nothing but love.”

And that’s the reason Kyrie Irving and some other players were absent.

As Jefferson stated, the smaller group chat included LeBron James, Channing Frye, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Richard Jefferson. It started with shopping at Audemars Piguet in London, and they spent several days playing golf, reportedly at Loch Lomond Golf Club. The reunion took place in the United Kingdom, France, and Scotland.

Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova joined them. Since Kyrie Irving wasn’t part of the celebrations, rumors emerged that there was a rift, but Richard Jefferson stated, it all began as a plan from a few players who stayed in touch, and they tried reaching out to other guys.

While the former champion has clarified things on his end, his teammate’s comment at the time of the reunion fueled controversy over Kyrie Irving’s absence.

Smith’s comment was “Missing none. He was invited and ghosted us all. So stop with that bs.”

This led to Irving clearing the real reason for missing out.

What Kyrie Irving and another teammate said about the missed reunion

First, it was Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson, who revealed that the current Mavericks star had commitments, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp in South Carolina. In fact, even Smith later stated that Irving reached out and that they are “good.” Since Irving does regular live streams, he also spoke about it ending the narrative of the alleged rift.

“Me and my brothers, who played on Cavs, bro, we are good,” said Kyrie Irving. “We are more than good, alright? Tried their best, not them, but I’m not gonna blame them either,” Irving said. “It’s all love. And when I get back to the states… we’re gonna have a great time, alright? We’re gonna leave it at that. Because the immaturity behind you, the media, to spin narratives, psychotic, bro. Psychotic.”

But the clarification from Richard Jefferson was much needed, especially since former teammate center Timofey Mozgov’s comments added new drama around the reunion.

“Yes, I saw the video of that party,” Mozgov told Russian outlet Sport Express when asked about the reunion. “No one wrote or called me. If I’d been invited, I’d have gladly joined. Of course, I’d have loved to be there too, to drink some wine.”

While Jefferson stated that everyone was asked about the reunion, Mozgov revealed that he never received one, and Kyrie Irving stated that he had other commitments.