It appears that Kyrie Irving was checked out from the Cleveland Cavaliers well before his trade request went public.
In a recent appearance on “The BBall Breakdown Podcast,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin was asked about the Phoenix Suns’ interest in trading for Irving.
“I’m not sure,” said McMenamin, per Ryne Nelson of SLAM Online. “Phoenix, of course, hired James Jones this offseason. He’s been inside that locker room. He saw Kyrie 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 for people to go through your ups and downs during the regular season,” McMenamin continued. “But when you get to the playoffs, 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 things that made him sullen or reclusive from his teammates.”
While the Cavs were enjoying significant success at the time, sweeping their way through the first two rounds of the playoffs, Irving’s aloofness may not be entirely surprising given how he has reportedly been handling this offseason. His teammates seem to be over him as well, so it’s getting increasingly harder to see a scenario where the star guard is still in Cleveland to begin the season.
