The Cleveland Cavaliers’ locker room doesn’t seem like a fun place to be nowadays.
Sure, the Cavaliers have the Eastern Conference’s best record and a very good chance of returning to the NBA Finals one year after winning a title. But LeBron James’ frustration has been obvious recently, and the Cavs superstar wasn’t pleased Monday night when a reporter asked him about a trade rumor involving teammate Kevin Love and New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony.
jeffeisenband: LeBron on trash rumor TNT NBA Basketball: Spurs at Grizzlies https://t.co/un4lDGal5a pic.twitter.com/RVdxNcwk1v
— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) February 7, 2017
“I saw it. I saw it and heard about it. It’s trash,” James said after Cleveland’s overtime win over the Washington Wizards. “And the guy who wrote it is trash, too, for writing that, especially during the game like that.
“It’s always about outside noise, and that’s just outside noise for us. We got to focus on what needs to be done in order for us to continue to compete for a championship and we got who we got. Our GM will do a great job of figuring out if we need something else, but right now, we’re in a good place.
The rumor in question came from the New York Daily News’ Frank Isola, who reported earlier Monday, citing a league source, that James is the one pushing the Cavaliers front office to acquire Anthony even if it means potentially having to include Love in a deal.
Love, who’s been no stranger to trade rumors over the years, even since being in Cleveland, also downplayed the report when asked about it following the Cavs’ win over the Wizards.
KLove on the rumor: "It's a lie. What do they say? A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put his pants on"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2017
As did Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, because, well, that’s part of his job.
Ty Lue on the trade rumors: "Kevin (Love) should be happy that teams want him, but he's not going anywhere"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2017
Good times.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
