Kyrie Irving Denies Rumors That He’s Unhappy in Cleveland

He initially did it through Twitter, and on Monday in Las Vegas for Team USA trials, Kyrie Irving re-iterated to the media that he’s happy to be playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers and excited about their future. Per the Plain Dealer: “‘I’m a Cavalier right now, I’m happy to be a Cavalier,’ he said. With that, Irving effectively debunked a Twitter rumor that he was unhappy in Cleveland. He tweeted the same thing at the time the rumor surfaced, but talked about it more extensively on Monday. ‘I kind of had a sarcastic approach to it from what he said because it was a rumor starter,’ he said, referring to a tweet last week from @BrandonTierney that said Irving was not long for Cleveland. ‘I don’t think he knows anybody in my camp, and I don’t know who the guy is. That type of stuff I don’t pay any attention to. Right now I’m a Cleveland Cavalier and I’m happy to be here.” Asked if he had any intention of leaving, Irving said, ‘No, no intention.’ In fact, he said he was excited about new coach Mike Brown and all the other changes in Cleveland, from free agents Andrew Bynum, Earl Clark and Jarrett Jack to rookies Anthony Bennett, Sergey Karasev and Carrick Felix. He also said he has grown as a result of the team’s tough couple of years — even though Irving excelled individually, being named Rookie of the Year in 2011 and an All Star in 2012. ‘There’s certain things that I had to figure out for myself these last few years, a lot of growing up to do,” he said. ‘Now it’s my approach to the game, taking care of my body in the summer, doing the right things as a pro and just learning from the older guys in this league. I’m trying to be a great player and be known as a hard worker and a great player. I have to do the necessary things in order to do that.’ He took a step toward that by organizing some off-season workouts in Las Vegas with some of his old and new teammates.”