LeBron James sends strong message on Mavericks star Kyrie Irving on Instagram

After ending last season with in disappointment, the Dallas Mavericks set their sights on improvement this offseason. They failed to make the Play-In Tournament this past year, which should be considered unacceptable with Luka Doncic on the roster.

The youngster is a three-time All-NBA First-Teamer, including this past year, and he should be competing for championships, not missing the playoffs entirely.

So, the Mavericks got to work this summer. They traded for Grant Williams and Richaun Holmes, drafted Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, signed Seth Curry and Dante Exum, and, most importantly, re-signed Kyrie Irving.

The Mavericks brought back Irving on a new three-year deal after trading for him at the deadline this past year. This was their number one priority this summer, and they got it done as soon as possible.

Irving is a top-tier talent in the NBA. His offensive game is elite, and he’s widely regarded as having the best handle in the history of the game.

His former teammate and all-time great LeBron James recently weighed in on this subject by way of his Instagram Story. He posted a tweet referring to Irving as the “best player with the ball in his hands we’ve ever seen,” writing “EVER” in all caps with a ton of exclamation points. (H/t Bleacher Report)

Clearly, he is still a huge fan of his former teammate, and it’s hard to argue with the premise that Irving is one of the best ball-handlers the game has ever seen.

This isn’t the first time James and Irving have been grouped together in the news this summer, though. Before Irving signed his extension in Dallas, there were rumblings of a potential move to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Or, more interestingly, there were reports that Irving was attempting to convince James to come to Dallas to team up with him and Doncic, which would have been insane.

Obviously, these rumblings were never too realistic, but the fact that Irving brought up the subject is intriguing, and the fact that it got leaked in reports is even more interesting.

Seeing James in a Mavericks uniform would have been nuts, and Dallas would have immediately been one of the favorites to win the NBA Championship next season.

That being said, the Mavericks still had a great offseason despite the fact that they weren’t able to make any wild blockbuster trades happen. (As if James would have ever been traded away by the Lakers in a million years.)