LeBron James looked downright disgusted when asked on Monday night about rumors that he wants the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade Kevin Love for Carmelo Anthony, but the reporter who delivered the story is standing by it.
On SiriusXM NBA Radio Tuesday, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News said he believes LeBron is more angry over the timing of the report than the accuracy of it.
“I spoke to people who spoke with LeBron afterwards, as actually he was walking to the bus. And his big thing was, he thought it was like — what would be the word that I’m looking for? — like out of line that the story came out when it did, just right before tip-off, as if somehow that was purposely planned by me as a way to kind of sabotage the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Isola said, as transcribed by Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk. “Which isn’t the case. I don’t have anything to do with, A, when the story is released or, I don’t think anybody is thinking, ‘Yeah, this will affect the Cleveland Cavaliers.’”
James did say that he was bothered by the timing of the story, and he came down hard on Isola. You can read LeBron’s comments here.
“It’s almost like he said, ‘Well, if you had written the story like on an off day, maybe I’d be OK with it. But don’t write it — don’t have the story come out right before we play a game,'” Isola added.
For what it’s worth, it’s not just LeBron who claims he has not asked the Cavs to explore the possibility of trading Love for Anthony. Other reporters said Monday night that Isola’s report is not true.
Even if LeBron wanted the team to trade Love, he would obviously never admit it. Does that mean Isola’s sources were correct? No, but it means we’ll likely never know the truth.
