CLEVELAND – LeBron James – blindsided by Kyrie Irving’s trade request – had several thoughts when he heard Irving wanted out of Cleveland.

“I was wondering if something I could’ve did better to make him not want to be traded,” James said. “Is it the way the season finished? Or was it me coming back in the first place? Was it the coaching change or the GM change or I don’t know? I had so many different emotions go through my head.”

James had been planning on handing Irving the keys to the franchise and tried to prep him for that role.

“I tried to do whatever I could do to help the kid out and be the best player he could be. Tried to help him be a better leader, be a better scorer, a better floor general, a better defender, a better passer, getting guys involved, a better leader vocally,” James said. “I tried to give him everything and give him as much of the DNA as I could.”

But Irving bolted before James could give Irving the keys. If James was angry or disappointed in Irving’s decision to leave, he didn’t show it on Monday.

“The only thing I’m upset about is that he took a lot of the DNA and the blueprints up to Boston, that’s the only thing I’m upset about really,” James said. “Other than that I wish the kid great health. The kid wanted to do what was best for his career and I give credit to our GM, Koby (Altman), and our ownership for granting that for him. Other than that, I don’t have much more to say. It was so many different emotions. I tried to do whatever I could to help the kid be as great as he could be. That’s it.”

The Cavs were stunned by Irving’s trade request, James said, and he reached out to Irving to find out why Irving wanted a new home.

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“I mean I reached out to him because I just wanted to get a little insight on why he felt like he wanted to move on,” James said. “And he basically just let me know that that was the direction that he wanted to go in. And I was OK with that. And it’s a business. I understand that. … But I definitely just wanted to go right to him and ask him and he clarified it for me so I was at ease.”

Does James have any advice for Irving?

“I don’t have any advice for him now,” he deadpanned. “I don’t have any advice for him or any people that are on any other team. We’re trying to win a championship. You’re either with us or against us. I’m truly humbled and excited. It was a gratifying three years we played together. If my son went to another team and we were playing against each other I’m not giving him (anything). He can come home and eat dinner or whatever, but he’s getting no advice from me. That’s just the way it goes.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt

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