Richard Jefferson is the elder statesman on the Cleveland Cavaliers team and has always been a straight shooter. During his podcast on Monday, Jefferson gave his thoughts on the entire Kyrie Irving situation and how he believes Kyrie wants out because he doesn’t want to wait around a year for LeBron James to make decision about whether he wants to return to the team or not.
Via SB Nation
I think Kyrie has had a much tougher time in this stretch of the organization than anyone ever wanted to ever really fully – he’s the No. 1 pick right after LeBron, then he has three different coaches, then LeBron comes back, now there’s trade rumors, now its “LeBron’s leaving.”
It’s like, at some point in time, anybody would want some sort of stability. Even if it’s the unknown, and I’m not saying – 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, from 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 gotta be tough on anybody, everybody.
All indications are pointing to LeBron leaving the team next season and it seems like Kyrie is just beating him to the punch.