The Cleveland Cavaliers have faced their share of adversity this season. Despite sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference, the team fired head coach David Blatt while fielding trade offers for Kevin Love. Now, Kyrie Irving is at the center of the turmoil surrounding the team as doubt begins to rise over his happiness in Cleveland.
Irving is the franchise point guard for Cleveland. He is expected to be LeBron James' right-hand man. For the most part, that has worked out, but the Cavaliers are losers of four of their last five games with Tyronn Lue now coaching the team. Adversity continues to hit the roster, and Stephen A. Smith added to the drama.
On Monday's First Take on ESPN, Smith said, "Dating back to last year, I've been told that Kyrie Irving ain't too happy being in Cleveland. The situation is not ideal for him. I don't know the particulars, I haven't spoken to him personally."
Smith was clear to say that he has not spoken to Irving about the situation which means he could just be attempting to stir the pot a bit around the Cavaliers. However, this is not the first time that Irving's loyalty to Cleveland has been questioned. There were whispers that he wanted out prior to the arrival of James, but going to the NBA Finals last year quieted those talks down.
Irving caught wind of Smith's comments. Following a 100-96 win over the Indiana Pacers, the point guard was quick to say that he is tuning all of that talk out and is focused on getting a championship to Cleveland.
"There's nothing to really address," Irving said. "Obviously there's going to be some misunderstandings; it's part of being on a team. For me, as a maturing young player in this league, I know what we have and the opportunity we have in order to be something special."
This is not going to be the last time Irving has to speak out about his happiness in Cleveland. The team is going to be dealing with a lot of adversity, especially if they fail to get back in the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers are in win-now mode and if that does not happen, the media will have a field day with it. Lue is also aware the Cavaliers have their backs against the wall right now.
The team is expected to win the East and head for a rematch against the Golden State Warriors. James believes the Cavaliers are mentally tough enough to get the job done and ignore the critics.
"I think the fact that we can handle a little adversity, if you want to call it that, and be able to respond like we did tonight, it's a good sign," James said. "We shouldn't have to get to that point sometimes, but hey, that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes."
