Kyrie Irving shook up the league when he announced that he wanted a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was playing alongside the arguably best player in the league, LeBron James, and with the best team in the Eastern Conference that went to the NBA Finals three years in a row and was likely heading towards a fourth. Despite all that, Irving was unhappy with his role in the offense and was reportedly unhappy playing second fiddle to James.
Irving wanted to lead his own squad and his wish was granted as he was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, a 2018 first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets, and a 2020 second-round pick the Celtics acquired from Miami. Though Irving no longer wanted to play with James, the feeling wasn't mutual; LeBron, of course, wanted to keep his star point guard.
ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst wrote an article comparing the differences between the Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs in how they handled the discontent of their players Kyrie Irving and LaMarcus Aldridge respectively. In the article, Windhorst revealed that LeBron was against the Irving trade.
"James himself was publicly supportive, but it is no secret within the organization that he was against trading Irving after the demand (and well before the now-famous Arthur tweet). It's fair to wonder what might've happened had the Cavs simply told Irving, who was under contract for two more years, they weren't trading him, as the Spurs held the line with Aldridge," Windhorst writes.
We haven't gotten to the All-Star break yet so it's still "early" in NBA world but things have been rocky for the Cavaliers. They're currently 26-17, holding the third spot in the Eastern Conference while the Celtics sit at No. 1 with a 34-11 record. The Celtics have finished at the top of the EC and still lost to the Cavaliers previously, but as of right now, Cleveland doesn't look at all ready to face the Golden State Warriors for a possible fourth time.
Source: espn.com
