I think that was definitely a factor, along with the Cavaliers seemingly open to shopping him to teams like Phoenix or Indiana for Bledsoe or George. So he decided to demand and force out.
But also, he didn't get as much recognition as he deserved. Forget that Game 7 shot in the 2016 Finals, but even in that Finals series overall, the Cavaliers AREN'T coming back from down 3-1 without Irving's overall contributions/averages as well. Nope, Lebron w/o Kyrie isn't coming back down 3-1. Yet barely anyone talks about it. It's all, "Lebron came back down 3-1, Lebron brought Cleveland a championship, Lebron single-handedly carries Cavaliers to title after falling behind 3-1" and barely any mention of Irving.
Then, when they lose the Finals the year after in 5 games, Lebron indirectly takes a shot at the rest of the team saying they could have done better and he did his best, and the media is like, "oh Kyrie could have done more" even though the guy averaged 29/5/4.