Kyrie Irving requests trade from Cavaliers, stunning LeBron James and entire NBA

Sports have a history of curses: the Curse of the Billy Goat, the Curse of Lil B, the Curse of Colonel Sanders (no, really). The most notable curse for sports video game fans is the Madden curse, where an NFL player becomes a cover star for a Madden NFL installment, and then they get injured during the season. Tom Brady, who will be on the cover of Madden NFL 18, did his best to debunk the notion of curses by breaking mirrors and walking under a ladder.

For a while, we all thought the Madden curse was the only sports video game-related curse. But a Twitter user named Eric Fawcett noticed something peculiar about NBA 2K’s covers over the last few years, especially in the wake of early reports Kyrie Irving wanted the Cavaliers to trade him. Almost every currently active player that’s been featured on the NBA 2K cover since 2013 has left their team at some point in the future.

In this Age of Superteams, Kyrie Irving’s decision to walk away from LeBron James and the Cavaliers is out of tune with the rest of the NBA. Everyone else is mad when they don’t have a superstar teammate, and then they wind up working the levers to land one or to land where one or two are already in place.

Irving already has the best player in the world in LeBron and a very good power forward in Kevin Love. Together, they’ve been to three straight NBA Finals and won a championship. Kyrie was integral in winning that championship — and he earned plenty of recognition along the way and in the aftermath.

Kyrie Irving reportedly requested that the Cavaliers trade him this summer after six seasons in Cleveland. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that Irving made the request last week. NBA.com’s David Aldridge reports that Irving requested a trade to the Bulls so he could play with Jimmy Butler before the NBA Draft in June. (Butler has since been traded to Minnesota.)

This is a shocker with major ramifications around the league. Let’s explain the basics.

The power disparity between the Western and Eastern Conferences is nothing new. Since the 1998-99 season, when the Michael Jordan dynasties finally ended, the West has had a better record in head-to-head play in all but one season. This offseason, we saw several stars — Paul George, Jimmy Butler, and Paul Millsap — head West, while only one player of that caliber (Gordon Hayward) went the other direction.

Don’t worry. It might get even worse.

Kyrie Irving has requested to be traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the move has “devastated” LeBron James, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Pardon the Interruption Friday afternoon. In an article, Windhorst also wrote that James was “blindsided and disappointed” by Irving’s decision to attempt to force his way out of Cleveland.

Here’s what Windhorst said about James.

Kyrie Irving is ready to move on from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The All-Star point guard reportedly requested a trade last week after deciding he no longer wanted to share the spotlight with LeBron James.

Irving has reportedly given the Cavs a list of four preferred destinations: San Antonio, Miami, New York and Minnesota. Apparently, there was another team Irving wanted to go to before the NBA draft. That’s the Chicago Bulls.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad summer. They still have the best player in the world ... but virtually everything that could have gone poorly for the Cavaliers in the past two months has.

Just when the NBA was finally winding down for the offseason, Kyrie Irving single-handedly pumped amphetamines into our 3 p.m. coffees. On Friday, it was reported that Irving had met earlier with the Cavaliers and requested a trade, citing a desire to be the “focal point” of a team away from LeBron James’ shadow.

Kyrie Irving has requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He doesn’t want to play with LeBron James anymore, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, and he wants to be the focal point of a team.

That’s fine. But please Kyrie, we’re begging you to not leave the Eastern Conference. There’s ... there’s nobody left. Paul George went to the Thunder, Jimmy Butler went to the Timberwolves, Paul Millsap went to the Nuggets, and Carmelo Anthony wants to go to the Rockets.

Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland. The 25-year-old point guard requested a trade from the Cavaliers in a meeting with ownership last week, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

Irving wants to leave Cleveland so he can be the “focal point” somewhere else, per Windhorst. Irving “no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James,” according to the report.

July 21 update: Kyrie Irving has recently asked the Cavs for a trade, according to a report that came out Friday afternoon.

The Cavaliers aren’t in the best place heading into the 2017-18 season, and Kyrie Irving knows it.

All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving asked the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him in a meeting earlier this week, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Irving, according to ESPN, no longer wants to play alongside LeBron James and wants to be in a situation where he can be the focal point of the team.

The All-Star guard and his agent had a meeting with Cavaliers’ brass on his future with team and wouldn’t comment on what was discussed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.