Los Angeles Lakers: What Kyrie Irving’s willingness to meet means

2. LeBron James is successfully working behind the scenes to actively recruit for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kyrie Irving is the most important free agent to give the Lakers a meeting because of his history with LeBron James.

When Irving demanded a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that Irving sought “to play in a situation where he can be more of a focal point and that he no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James.”

Irving’s trade request originated the notion that James is no longer someone who marquee players want to play with anymore, at least not in this stage in James’ career.

Stephen A. Smith followed up his scoop, by saying this about Irving’s willingness to meet with the Lakers.

"“Very big news because LeBron James is already there for the next three years. And this man left Cleveland because he didn’t want to play with LeBron James. So the fact, from what I’m being told, that he’s willing to…spend time and talk to the Lakers and give it consideration, that’s a long way from the Kyrie Irving that left Cleveland, and left LeBron in Cleveland.”"

Irving and James’ story arc for the past two years is mesmerizing.

From picking Irving to start on his All-Star team to reviving old secret handshakes to serenading Irving on Instagram, LeBron James also deserves credit for his part in mending what was once burned bridges with Kyrie Irving.

James has not been shy in his recruitment for the Los Angeles Lakers.

"“I’ve never played fantasy basketball,” James told Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. “But I will be as active as I need to be for this franchise to get better. That’s why I came here. I came here to win. And obviously, we need to get better, as far as our personnel. We have an opportunity to get better. And there’s a lot of talent out there, and a lot of guys that can help our franchise. So I’ll be as active as I need to be for us to get better and go from there.”"

Here, leaving the door wide open for a reunion with Irving does not come without James’ blessing. In fact, getting past the bad blood from 2017 demands that both James and Irving take mutual, drastic steps towards reconciliation.

The Lakers only have cap space to sign one maximum-level free agent this offseason, and they only need one star to pair with LeBron James to catapult themselves back to championship contention.

This is especially the case if, as expected around the league, Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins depart from Golden State this summer. Such a loss of talent would subvert the Warriors’ invincibility to mere mortality because NBA superstars would then be more evenly distributed around the league. Thus, the need for three to four superstars on a team in order to have a realistic shot at competing with Golden State will no longer be necessary.

So, can LeBron James and Kyrie Irving do what Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant failed to do and reconcile and reunite in their primes to deliver the Lakers additional championships?

Only time will tell.

For now, the Lakers have LeBron James to thank for having the opportunity to close the deal on at least one marquee free agent this summer.