Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving Tired of Negative Media Reports About His Future
The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently battling for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Kyrie Irving is upset, not over the way the team is playing down the stretch, but by the media barrage, he has been getting.
The Cavs play in the tough Central division where two teams – Indiana and Chicago – are the second and fourth seeded teams in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
Irving is frustrated with the reports from the media he says unfairly portrayed him during this season. The All-Star guard for Cleveland said on Saturday that he is happy playing in Cleveland. He is focusing only on winning and reaching the postseason.
Irving said the media barrage is an attack against him but he has seen it all season and says he does not deserve it. The Cavs are barely in the race for the playoffs as they trail Atlanta by 3 ½ games with just 4 to play.
Following their disappointing defeat on the road Friday at Atlanta, Irving defended himself on Twitter against a news report that said he wanted to leave Cleveland. The Cavaliers can offer Irving a maximum contract extension during the offseason.
Irving ranted on Twitter saying he was sick and tired from all the accusations and rumors. He said he wanted to play without the media writing BS for their headlines.
Prior to the Cavs loss to Charlotte on Saturday by the score of 96-94, Irving said he was tired of the speculation and negative publicity about his future. Irving followed that up with a 44-point game, the highest of his career.
The negative publicity, said Irving was hurting the club and he does not want that to happen as they battle to reach the postseason. Irving says the club has too much to worry about and does not need distractions at this time.
The talented guard was an overall No. 1 pick, but has been nagged with injuries causing him to miss 49 games while being criticized for not making the players around him better.
With Cleveland having just four games to catch Atlanta who they trail by 3 ½ games, the season likely will end without the Cavs making the postseason.
Irving was the All-Star game MVP this season and the Cleveland front office must turn its attention quickly to Irving once their season has ended.
The young Irving, who in his third season is just 22, said he was too often being singled out be members of the media.
The rumors have been rampant all season that the talented guard wants to leave Cleveland.
Losing Irving would be a big blow to the Cavaliers. This season he is averaging over 21 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds per game.
The talented point guard will only get better over the years to come as he gains more experience and maturity. Cleveland could build its future around the point guard if they can get one or two talented players in this season’s NBA draft.
Cleveland knows what it is like to lose talented stars as they had LeBron James in uniform before he decided that the warmth of Miami was better than Cleveland’s cold in the winter.
