Former Cavaliers GM David Griffin Thinks Kyrie Irving Showed Courage By Asking For A Trade

David Griffin bringing some perspective. pic.twitter.com/a4iF09zLit

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) August 7, 2017

David Griffin:

​“He handled the situation exactly like he was supposed to. He went to Dan Gilbert privately and told him that he thought he would be happier somewhere else. The absolute worst thing this guy could have done was pretend to be all-in and sink the ship from within. Most guys don’t have the courage to do what he did.” 

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Courage, really? It sure as hell takes confidence to talk your way off a team that - at least for the next year - rosters a player that basically guarantees you an appearance in the NBA Finals, but courage? I think that word choice could have used some tinkering.

I get it. It takes pretty big balls to waltz into the office of your jackass of a boss and start making outrageous demands, even if players of Kyrie Irving's standing in his industry have turned that into a fairly common occurrence. Those balls obviously could have used some emptying first since someone clearly wasn't thinking clearly when he offered the dumpster fire that is the New York Knickerbockers as his preferred destination of choice, but preempting LeBron's inevitably departure from Cleveland was a bold move none the less. A bold move that will undoubtedly prove that the saying should be altered to "fortune favors those that affix their tongue to the King's anus", but not a move so bold that it has me considering a guy that would rather not honor his contract as a candidate for a 'Medal of Honor' or something. 

Let's just say what this was. This was David Griffin letting his opinion of the franchise that stupidly decided not to remain relevant by paying him boost his opinion of a player that also wants to get out of dodge before said dodge makes a hard left into irrelevance. I don't blame him - just as I don't blame Kyrie Irving for looking out for his future - but demanding a trade and then passive aggressively pushing for it to happen by way of social media jabs and dance floor mockery doesn't  exactly meet my mediocre standards for courage.