Remember all the recent fuss about Kyrie Irving and the Knicks? Sean Devaney of the Sporting News says the noise came directly from Rich Paul, the agent for Anthony Davis and LeBron James:
Less subtle in his annoyance was Irving last week, after the Knicks had completed the deal to clear out cap space. Speculation turned immediately to the two players the Knicks were likely to target, and Irving (a free agent in the summer) was at the top of the list.
The Celtics were annoyed by the story of Irving having eyes for New York, not because of Irving, but because they felt the story was planted by Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, in order to scare the Pelicans into thinking Boston would back off making a trade offer for Davis in July if Irving left.
“It was cheap and underhanded,” one source told SN.
Rich Paul and LeBron James thought they could outsmart and/or bully the Pelicans and the NBA. When they couldn’t, they resorted to lies and bullshit that pissed off a lot of folks.
I guess you can’t blame them. They knew this was quickly becoming a lost season for the 34-year old James and the Lakers (3-7 in their last ten games, 3 games out of the 8th spot in the West).
Even the Charmin-soft LA media is turning against him:
His young teammates have had to listen to the believable chants that James wanted them traded for Davis.
He has sat with three vacant seats between him and those teammates during a recent blowout loss.
He has missed 17 games with a slow-healing groin injury that could be related to the wear on his 34-year-old body.
…
For all his greatness, James is not this team’s veteran leader. That role has been taken by Rajon Rondo, who has become the most respected and trusted figure in the young locker room, something which was evident in the team’s joyous postgame celebration after his buzzer beater in Boston.
For as spectacular as he looks in a Lakers uniform — which still appears two sizes too small for his almost mythical physique — James still doesn’t seem to be a Laker, this perception of a disconnect only reinforced by his comments about not needing to win another championship.
It’s certainly not all roses in Boston, but at least we’re in a better place than the Lakers.
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