Politi: LeBron James can profess his love of Cleveland, but Kyrie Irving is the real reason he's changing teams

The announcement was such a stroke of P.R. brilliance, setting up the perfect narrative for the NBA and its transcendent star in the coming years, that it was easy to overlook this simple truth about it:

LeBron James is full of it.

This is not about his love for Cleveland — that, we're sure, is real. James said that "what's most important for me is bringing one trophy back to Northeast Ohio," and given his Akron roots still define him even after he has reached superstardom, we'll take him on his word there.

Winning a championship for Cleveland would cement his legacy in a way that winning five more in Miami would not, and it is a sign of his maturity as a person that he recognizes this. Cleveland needs something like this, and good for James for trying to deliver it.

Still: Where James is stretching the truth a tad comes in one line near the end of his Sports Illustrated essay. It's where, after he praises his future teammates including a point guard from New Jersey who is quickly becoming one of the league's elite players, that he reaches this conclusion:

"This is not about the roster or the organization."

Sorry, that part is hard to believe. Yes, James is picking Cleveland for all the right reasons, and he should be celebrated for that decision the same way he was torched for "taking his talents to South Beach" four years ago.

Eastern Conference All-Stars forward LeBron James of the Miami Heat chats with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving during a 2014 All-Star Game practice session. (Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports)Bob Donnan 

But he's also picking Kyrie Irving.

This is not some act of basketball charity. This is also a calculated decision on where James would have the best shot of adding to his trophy case, and quite conveniently, it happens to be in the city that once labeled him a traitor (or worse) for leaving town.

"This is incredible for Kyrie," Kevin Boyle, his former coach at St. Patrick of Elizabeth, said from his new school in Florida on Friday. "He will help Kyrie rise to a top-five player in the league."

You could argue that Irving, the MVP of the All-Star Game who averaged 20.8 points, 6.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds, was already on his way. The West Orange native, the No. 1 pick in 2011, is just entering his prime, just scratching at the surface of what he can accomplish in the sport.

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (left) looks over at Miami Heat small forward LeBron James during a game in 2013 at the American Airlines Arena. (Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports) 

In a star-driven game, James is betting on a 22-year-old Irving over the crusty knees of Dwyane Wade. He is betting on the kid who hit 39.4 percent of his 3 pointers in his first two professional seasons, not the veteran who has converted just 29 percent since the Big Three became a thing in Miami.

Maybe the Cavs don't have the equivalent of a Chris Bosh on their roster, but James had to look at the other pieces — young talent like Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and top draft pick Andrew Wiggins that will benefit from his presence — and figure there is enough of a supporting cast to compete right away.

There are plenty of winners here, starting with James, of course, and the fans in Cleveland who once burned his jersey in the streets. That Dan Gilbert, the Cavs owner who torched James in a Comic Sans-font letter on his way out the door, gets a mulligan with the best player in the universe might be proof that karma is dead.

The NBA as a whole wins, too, because just as the Big Three storyline in Miami started to feel old, it gets King James searching for a crown in Cleveland. If you thought the NBA was better when the stars stayed in one city their entire careers, the way James' free agency has dominated the sports world is proof to the contrary.

But Irving might be the biggest winner of all. After playing for winning teams at St. Pat's and Duke, he finally will have his shot in the pros, and who knows how high this star with rise.

"You talk about the great job Kyrie's people have done — all of the endorsements and attention — and now he's going to be playing in the (NBA) Finals or semifinals over the next five years," Boyle said. "It's incredible how his career has gone so far, and now he gets to play with a guy who's arguably the best to play the game."

He will, but don't forget the other side of that. James will get a chance to play with him, and while his love of Cleveland might be deep and real, his talents would still be in South Beach if that weren't the case.