Written by Brian Windhorst at ESPN.com
Chauncey Billups knew Kyrie Irving was unhappy when Billups was interviewing for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ president job last month.
Billups also said his concern over the amount of assets in the franchise if LeBron James leaves in free agency next summer contributed to his decision to pass on the job.
“[Irving’s trade request] didn’t surprise me. I knew as [the Cavs] were doing their due diligence on me I was doing the same thing on them,” Billups said in an interview on the Vic Lombardi Show on Altitude Sports 950 AM in Denver on Tuesday.
“I knew so much about the situation that the rest of the world doesn’t know. But it’s unfortunate, man, because [Irving is] a special talent. So much of what he’s been able to accomplish on and off the floor has been as the beneficiary of having LeBron James.”
Billups, an NBA analyst for ESPN, said he’s surprised Irving would want a trade away from James.
“You’re getting everything you want,” Billups said. “You get all the shots you want, you’re playing for a great coach who’s letting you go to work, when the game is on the line they’re coming to you, you’re playing on TV every week. To me, I don’t get it. Everybody has their own desires.
“Maybe he wants to be Russell Westbrook and go try to win the MVP and get all the shots. That’s the only sense I can make of it, and to me that doesn’t make sense.”
Later on Tuesday, Billups said on SportsCenter that he was not aware that Irving was planning to request a trade.
“It wasn’t that I knew Kyrie wanted to be traded or not, or him and LeBron had a beef,” Billups said. “I don’t know any of those things.”
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