Former NBA player Chauncey Billups DONALD MIRALLE/Getty Images/AFP
Most NBA fans were completely blindsided by news of Kyrie Irving’s displeasure with the Cleveland Cavaliers and his demand to be traded elsewhere.
READ: Cavs star Kyrie Irving reportedly requests trade
However, retired NBA player Chauncey Billups said he knew it was coming.
The former NBA Finals MVP, who was
interviewed for the then vacant Cavaliers General Manager position last month, said he was aware of the brewing “trouble in paradise” in the Ohio-based franchise.“It didn’t really surprise me,” Billups said of Irving’s wish to play for a different team.
“Obviously I knew. As they were doing their due diligence on me, I was doing the same thing. I knew so much about the situation that the rest of the world doesn’t know,” he said during a recent appearance on the Vince Lombardi Show.
Although he anticipated it to happen sooner than later, the 40-year-old player-turned-analyst admitted he remained baffled by Irving’s decision.
“That would be alarming to me if I was a team looking to get him because if it’s all about winning—I mean, man, you got a chance to win every single year,” he said.
“And not only that, you’re getting everything you want. You’re getting the shots you want. You’re playing for a great coach who’s letting you go to work,” he said.
“The game’s on the line, they coming to you. You playing on (national) TV every week. To me, I don’t get it,” he added.
Billups, on the hand, turned down the Cavs’ GM position, which was recently awarded to Koby Altman. Khristian Ibarrola. /raRELATED STORIES:
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