It became clear to the Hall of Famer that Irving had had enough of the Cavaliers.
When discussing the legendary moments in Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history, it is impossible to avoid bringing up Kyrie Irving’s “shot of shots.”
The 52-year title drought may still be going strong if it weren’t for his 3-pointer over Stephen Curry in Game Seven of the 2016 Finals.
Kyrie Irving is also, without a question, the greatest player in team history to ever play with LeBron James.
They were colleagues in Cleveland when they first entered the NBA, and they also had one thing in common: the No. 1 overall picks in 2003 and 2011, respectively.
But even if they accomplished something unprecedented in 2016, the Cavaliers still had to deal with the heat from Irving and James’s contentious departures. Uncle Drew’s 2017 forced trade to the Boston Celtics is a source of ongoing animosity.
An odd yet interesting fact is that NBA veteran Chauncey Billups had intel on the behind-the-scenes in Cleveland because, at the time, he was interviewing for the position of president of basketball operations.
“(Irving’s trade request) didn’t surprise me. I knew as (the Cavs) were doing their due diligence on me, I was doing the same thing on them. I knew so much about the situation that the rest of the world doesn’t know. But it’s unfortunate, man, because (Irving is) a special talent. So much of what he’s been able to accomplish on and off the floor has been as the beneficiary of having LeBron James,” revealed Billups in a 2017 ESPN report by Brian Windhorst.
Mr. Big Shot viewed Irving’s decision as negative
Coming off his third consecutive Finals appearance in 2017, Irving stunned everyone with his demand to be traded. The various theories circulating at the time suggested that the 6’2″ guard wanted to be the main guy and not play under the shadow of King James.
“You’re getting everything you want. You get all the shots you want, you’re playing for a great coach who’s letting you go to work, when the game is on the line, they’re coming to you, you’re playing on TV every week. To me, I don’t get it. Everybody has their own desires,” mentioned the former guard turned Trail Blazers coach, who failed to wrap his head around this idea.
Billups found it rather strange that Irving would leave an ideal setting like he had in Cleveland.
Finding no justifiable explanation, the 48-year-old assumed the former Cavs guard was probably chasing individual accolades like an MVP, drawing parallels to Russell Westbrook.
Kai was ultimately unable to do so and instead found himself bouncing from team to team, struggling to find his old groove.
The president extended an offer, but Billups declined.
After a two-week interview process, the Cavaliers allegedly offered Chauncey a deal worth little under $2 million per year. In the end, the five-time All-Star declined and expressed gratitude to the management, especially Dan Gilbert, for the chance.
At the end, in my spirit, it just didn’t quite feel like it was the right time at the end. It was one of those gut things. So I took myself out of consideration. I felt good about it,” Billups said afterward.
Affirming his decision had nothing to do with Irving leaving or James’s uncertain future, Billups mentioned how he was not sold on the team’s future assets. Calling rebuilding a beautiful thing, his only worry was being prepared in case LBJ decided to exercise free agency.
As we all know, James left the hometown franchise in 2018, confirming Billups’ concerns and validating his decision to walk away.
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