When Chauncey Billups removed his name from consideration in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ search for their next head of basketball operations, many assumed he did so because of the possibility that LeBron James could leave next summer. But what about the Kyrie Irving situation?
Perhaps that was a factor.
In an interview with “The Vic Lombardi Show” on Altitude Sports 950 Tuesday, Billups was asked if he knew about Irving being unhappy with Cleveland when he was going through the interview process. He said the report about Kyrie wanting to be traded did not come as a surprise to him.
“No, it didn’t really surprise me. As they were doing their do diligence on me, I was doing the same thing,” Billups said. “I knew so much about the situation that the rest of the world doesn’t know. That’s unfortunate, man. He’s a special talent. In my opinion, so much of what he’s been able to accomplish on and off the floor has been (because) of LeBron James.”
While he didn’t say it played a direct role in his decision to remove himself from the running, Billups said he would find it “alarming” that Irving doesn’t want to play for a perennial title contender if he was a team interested in trading for the star point guard.
“That would be alarming to me if I was a team looking to get him,” Billups added. “If it’s all about winning, man, you have a chance to win every single year. Not only that, you get all the shots you want and you’re playing for a great coach. … To me, I don’t get it.”
Despite what some people believe, Billups says he did not know anything about LeBron’s future intentions before he bowed out of the interview process. In fact, he claims he didn’t speak to James until afterword.
“I’ll be honest with you, that didn’t bother me too much,” Billups said. “When you have an opportunity to really put something together and put your imprint on it, rebuilding is a beautiful thing if they’re going to have the patience with you.
“What bothered me a little more than if LeBron left or not was I just didn’t think they had great assets for a rebuild. It was more that than LeBron.”
In reality, neither the LeBron nor the Kyrie situations may have been the reason Billups ultimately decided the Cavs job wasn’t for him. When you hear some details of what Cleveland was offering him financially, it sounds like they never had a chance.
