It has been nearly three weeks since the Cleveland Cavaliers have officially traded All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics.
This was a situation that had quickly snowballed in the few weeks beforehand that eventually led to the Cavaliers pulling the trigger on a deal to move one of their star players. However, this was something that veteran guard Iman Shumpert revealed, during a recent interview with Complex News’ “Everyday Struggle”, that didn’t take any of the players on the team by surprise, via Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
“We all knew certain things about this team that’s tough,” Shumpert told Complex News’ “Everyday Struggle” in a wide-ranging interview.
“I don’t know how it was leaked, on whose side or whatever,” Shumpert said. “We wished it could’ve been ‘this trade happened. Boom, that’s it.'”
Irving’s desire to eventually move on to another situation where he could be the primary scorer and face of the franchise appears to be something that was acknowledged by his Cavaliers’ teammates. The 25-year-old likely made it evident at times through various points of the last couple of years that he wanted to assume that top role.
Shumpert also added during the interview that it wasn’t something that Kyrie Irving was holding against LeBron James in any manner.
“(People say) it’s LeBron and Kyrie hate each other,” Shumpert said. “No, it’s two dudes that need the ball. LeBron needs the ball, Kyrie needs the ball, Kevin (Love) needs the ball. Swish (J.R. Smith) can’t shoot unless he has the ball. Kyle Korver can’t shoot unless he has the ball.”
