Windhorst: “LeBron and Kyrie have drifted apart”
April 4, 2014“Growing sentiment” that Browns could nab Carr at No. 4
April 6, 2014Cleveland Cavaliers point guard took to Twitter following his team’s brutal loss to the Atlanta Hawks and shot back at reports that he, once again, wants out of Cleveland.
Sick to my stomach with all these rumors and accusations. Can I play without media guessing at my life and putting B.S out for headlines.
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) April 5, 2014
It brings nothing but negativity to the team and portraying me as something I'm not. I don't want or need the attention, so it can stop now.
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) April 5, 2014
At least be man or woman enough to come and ask me. There's no such source as "Kyrie's camp", nothing but nonsense.
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) April 5, 2014
— Kyrie Irving (@KyrieIrving) April 5, 2014
ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst, in an interview with Cavs: The Blog, stated that Irving’s “camp” has been leaking desires of the player wanting out of Cleveland “for years.” Windhorst stated that the All-Star point guard is not a fan of head coach Mike Brown and was not a fan of Chris Grant—the latter who was fired mid-season.
There has been smoke billowing out of the Irving rumor mill for most of the 2013-14 season. Unfortunately for the player and fans alike, the true “clarity” can’t come until July if or when he signs a contract extension.
25 Comments
It really is unfortunate that Brian Windhorst has a platform like ESPN to spew his typical BS. He never has real sources, just these supposed “camps”. His whole career is based off LeBron moving to Miami. His sources were complete crap back then, and they are complete crap right now. He just has nothing better to do. Literally – he has been saying the same crap for this entire season.
I’d be interested if someone from WFNY would take Kyrie up on his offer and ask him flat out if he’s going to sign an extension this summer. He said be man enough to ask him directly, so why not? Reference his tweet when you ask him.
Careful now people still love Windhorst for whatever reason. Someone should just Irving already.
This is nuts. We may not like Windhorst, we may especially not like what he has to say, and we can take issue with how he clammed up as soon as he got a job following Lebron to Miami. But this guy is plugged into some of the best sources around the league, and is still the best source of news for the Cavaliers.
Windy isn’t the only one who’s suggested that Irving is looking to leave. He’s just the latest to talk about it.
And regarding bringing negativity to the team? Trade rumors and anonymous sources matter a lot less when you don’t give up 117 points in the most important game of the year to a team that is struggling mightily. Irving should be worrying about what such a disappointing season does for this franchise more than Windhorst’s reports.
Twitter’s the worst place to air grievances, and Kyrie should know that, or at least have someone telling his 21-year-old behind to stay off Twitter.
I think Jason Lloyd is as, if not more, plugged in to the Cavs than Windhorst at this point. In fact, I would go one step further and argue that Lloyd is currently the best Cleveland beat sports reporter.
All Kyrie is doing is (in a PR sense) obligating himself to sign an extension. If he doesn’t sign it now, after saying things like “People need to stop spreading these rumors,” then they’re not rumors. So, your move, Cavs. Offer up the extension.
So what should Kyrie use to vent his frustration towards those who keeps spewing unconfirmed rumors about him? Facebook?
Lloyd is the only local Cavs beat I follow anymore, so I’ll give him the credit he’s due. Day to day stuff, he’s the best guy who’s in the building every day. But considering that Windy still was on top of the Mike Brown hire before anyone else, I still think he’s got everyone beat.
As far as best Cleveland beat guy, there’s not much competition. Bastian does a great job on the Indians, but considering the recent story that the Dodgers use their own site to spin stories as they see fit, it’s hard not to be skeptical of mlb.com guys. That said, I don’t recall seeing anything from Bastian that seemed like spin, he’s usually pretty fair.
He should take his frustration out by shutting down the Jeff Teagues of the world. Or at least not get lit up by them.
Windhorst is like the Perez Hilton of ESPN. All he does is speculate on what he thinks would be a good read, and cites these stupid “camps”. SOOOO glad Kyrie finally called him out on it.
After last night’s game, the biggest of the season, where Irving played poorly, and clearly was not the leader the team needed, are we sure we want to give him a max salary?
If you give him the max, you’re all but saying he’s going to be the best player on the next Cavs contender. It’s tough to undo going down that path. You have to be right about this, and so far, it doesn’t look to be the case.
How about talking to the media about it? These rumors are out there, put the kibosh on em through the guys with mics and tape recorders.
I have no idea why, but you’re convinced that Windhorst isn’t on top of a ton of NBA, and specifically Cavalier, news. It seems nothing can be said to convince you otherwise, so I might as well save myself some typing time. Enjoy that universe.
Not to mention the team meeting, the Sessions trade, the Leuer trade…
Anyone else notice that these stories always seem to come from ESPN affiliates whenever the Heat are playing poorly?
I have no idea whether Irving wants to leave or not, because he doesn’t confide in me. We can all watch his body language or over analyze his effort level, but the truth is that nobody other than Irving and his close friends know.
Maybe he has a problem with Mike Brown (who wouldn’t?), and maybe he has a problem with Waiters going one on five at times (which would be ironic). But I sure as hell am not trusting an ESPN source, because that site has a vested interest in promoting dysfunction on a team like the Cavs. They want Irving to leave and go to the Knicks or the Lakers, so I’m sure they’re doing everything they can to influence the story, as well as try and influence him to make a move.
He’s 22 .. Ijs
Hard to say if that will work. Sometimes the press has the tendency to take things out of context, or “read between the lines” to try to prove something about someone or something. Ultimately, this may just be another obstacle in Kyrie’s NBA career that he’ll have to overcome.
Here’s a link that talks about Grant Hill showing sympathy because he had to go through the same thing.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2014-04-05/kyrie-irving-angry-twitter-contract-extension-trade-nba-cleveland-cavaliers-grant-hill-duke-basketball-brian-windhorst
but i think if you DON’T offer him a max deal he won’t sign ANY deal. He has the leverage because he still has a national reputation (Uncle Drew, the All-Star game performances).
I’m all for not giving him a max deal. In fact, I am hoping for some sort of sign-and -trade. I like Dion’s improvement and I think he can be a nice piece on a contender. I’m sure you could find some metrics to tell me if I’m right about that.
I’m not arguing against you but I am asking for proof of your first statement, since I have NOT noticed that.
“because that site has a vested interest in promoting dysfunction on a team like the Cavs”
Your tin foil hat looks a little loose.
I guess I’m still saying call that bluff and see what you can get for him in a trade.
Yeah, I’m overreacting to one game. But in a de facto playoff game, Irving was soundly outplayed by Jeff Teague as the team gave up 117 points. It wasn’t all on Irving, no doubt about that, but that was a non-max salary performance, and those have come far too frequently from Irving.
The previous story (I think it was Chris Broussard) was leaked in December, when the Heat had lost 3 of 5, including blowout losses to Chicago and Detroit.
How? It’s not a conspiracy to notice that ESPN favors big-market teams, both in coverage time on Sportscenter, the articles on the front page, the games they show, etc. They cover them more because even when they’re bad, the Lakers and the Knicks have a larger fanbase/bring in more money/get more hits on stories for the network than a team like the Cavs.
So if you’re ESPN, and you can report on dysfunction on a small market team, isn’t it worth it for them? If these reports can make Irving think, even a little bit, that he’d be better off as a Laker, doesn’t that help the network?
It’s not a conspiracy, it’s basic economics. ESPN wants more stars on big market teams because it means more revenue for the network.
No one at ESPN is sitting around cackling evilly, saying “HEY HOW CAN WE SCREW CLEVELAND OVER, AHAHAHAHAHAH.” But I’m sure they are trying to influence the story to alter perception. That’s a fairly common thing for American news media, just look at Fox News.
That ESPN reports more on big market teams, because they sell better, doesn’t mean they have a “vested interest in promoting dysfunction” on small market teams. That’s a huge leap in logic.
And the interview doesn’t do anything to suggest that Irving would be better off as Laker, or Knick, or anywhere else. Now I’m unsure if you even read the interview before responding.
And of course, this wasn’t an ESPN story. This was Windhorst getting asked a couple questions by a local blog.
All Kyrie has to say is that he’ll signed the extension if/once offered. But he won’t.