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Kyrie Irving says the Cavs would have won the title if healthy

Kyrie Irving believes the Cavs would have beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals if healthy on Shaquille O'Neal's podcast.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving was recently on Shaquille O'Neal's podcast and, amongst other things, talked about the Cavs' loss in the Finals to the Golden State Warriors. When asked if he was in on the process of re-signing Kevin Love, Irving gave the following response:

"I'm more or less the voice of reason. I'm always gonna be a straight shooter with everyone and give them my honest opinion. Obviously, we had a great thing in Cleveland. We dealt with everything together. I felt like we would have definitely won an NBA championship if everyone was healthy. But almost doesn't count."

You can listen to the full podcast here. Irving's segment on the show begins at roughly the 31:50 mark.

Irving's Finals were ended when he fractured his knee cap near the end of Game 1 and he joined Love and Anderson Varejao on the sidelines. The Cavs ultimately lost the Finals in six games.

Irving also called his injury "the hardest thing he's ever had to deal with" and, with a laugh, declined to answer where he ranks amongst the world's best players. He also said he's going to take everything slow instead of rushing back from his injury. Overall, Irving's roughly eight minute segment is worth a listen.

Irving is right that almost doesn't count. But it would be interesting to see how a full-strength Cavs team would have done against a team the quality of the Warriors. For whatever it's worth, the Cavs are currently the betting favorite to win the title next season over the likes of the Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder.