Richard Jefferson Thinks Kyrie Irving Has Had a Tougher Time in Cleveland Than Anyone Realizes

Richard Jefferson was taping his podcast on Friday when the news broke that Kyrie Irving was reportedly looking for a trade because he didn’t want to play alongside LeBron James any longer. Here’s Jefferson’s immediate reaction which you can listen to in full here. (Transcription via Yahoo!)

"I think Kyrie has had a much tougher time in this stretch of the organization than anyone ever really wants to fully [realize]. “He was a No. 1 pick right after LeBron, then he has three different coaches, then LeBron comes back, now there’s trade rumors, now it’s ‘LeBron’s leaving.’ At some point in time, anybody would want some sort of stability, even if it’s the unknown. I don’t know if he asked to be traded. I don’t know this, but I will say that he’s had a tougher time, if you look at his start to where we are right now, of the ups and downs of a franchise, more than most. Even though we’ve been successful and even though we’ve won a championship and he’s been an All-Star, there’s still so much of a wave, and to be like, ‘Yo, we’re going to sit here for a whole year on whether or not LeBron’s coming back,’ that’s got to be tough on anybody — everybody.”"

All valid points. This seems like another situation where we forget that athletes are people too. Kyrie Irving could want out because he’s selfish and wants the spotlight. Or because the last few years have been stressful. Maybe he just wants a change of scenery. As we know from the Flat Earth stuff, Kyrie is a thoughtful guy with some… unconventional thoughts. Trying to guess his true motives is nearly impossible. Not that we’ll stop.