INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- For the fourth consecutive season, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Only this time, they'll be sitting on opposite sidelines.
Even nine months after the Cavs traded their former star player to their Eastern Conference rival, the idea of Irving being a member of the Boston Celtics is still confusing to Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue.
Asked on Thursday how the upcoming conference finals would be different if Irving were on the court, Lue initially responded, "With us?" before realizing the reporter was referring to the knee injury that will keep the 5-time All-Star sidelined for the series.
"It's tough to see him over there, when we did play against him, because he's a big part of what we did," Lue said. "Winning the championship together, those days will never be lost."
Lue went on to liken his connection to Irving to his relationships with his former teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, who he won two NBA titles with as a player in 2000 and 2001.
"We've talked about it before in the past and what Rick Fox and Ron Harper and those guys, [Brian] Shaw, you see them 16, 17 years later and it's still the same love and same respect because you've been through so much to win that championship."
Of course, there's a big difference between reminiscing with ex-teammates once your playing days are over and a player who's still active -- let alone the member of a playoff rival. Not to mention Irving's exit from Cleveland wasn't the most graceful, given his demand request to be traded and the subliminal social media shots that appeared to be aimed at LeBron James.
Between the Cavs having already squared off with the Celtics three times this season when Irving was active and the fact that he won't be in the upcoming series, some of the luster in what would have otherwise been one of the most highly anticipated playoff matchups in recent memory appears to have been lost.
That, however, won't make seeing Irving on the Celtics sideline this postseason any less strange.
"He's a big part of what we did here," Lue said. "It is kind of weird seeing him on the other side."
