Kyrie Irving’s trade request, to a borrow a word from him, is peculiar.
The second-best player on the NBA’s second-best team requesting a trade? That’s so far outside the norm.
So, there has been plenty of energy devoted to trying to understand Irving’s disconnect with the Cavaliers.
James Jones – who played the last three years in Cleveland then got hired by the Suns, who are in Irving trade talks – should have insight.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN on The BBall Breakdown Podcast (hat tip: reddit user Ivan_Pavlovich):I think I reported this on SportsCenter this week. He saw Kyrie Irving in the playoffs this year – in between the first round, when they beat Indiana, and the second round, when they played Toronto – go consecutive days without speaking to a teammate at practice.
On that stage. It’s one thing to say people go through their ups and downs in the regular season. But when you get to the playoffs, “when the main thing is the main thing, and we’re brothers, and we’re pulling together to get this thing done” – even at that level, there were still things that made him sullen or reclusive from his teammates.
Winning cures most ills. It obviously doesn’t cure all ills. Irving reportedly considered requested a trade after the Cavs won the 2016 title.
We don’t know all the context of Irving’s silence. Was he protesting or just locked in? Either way, this seems like a poor way of fostering a bond within the team.
Anyone considering trading for Irving ought to consider his attitude, but this is just one vague incident. The rest of this story and other cases would reveal more.