Despite the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be crumbling before our very eyes, LeBron James reportedly won’t waive his no-trade clause.
ESPN’s Chris Haynes dropped this knowledge on Sunday evening.
“No matter the reconstruction of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ roster, no matter the potential for heightened inner turmoil, no matter the win-loss record, and with or without Kyrie Irving, LeBron James will not waive his no-trade clause for any teams at any point during the 2017-18 season, league sources tell ESPN.”
Kyrie Irving appears to be dead set on leaving James and Co. if he has any say in the matter after reportedly requesting a trade this offseason. He apparently doesn’t like playing second fiddle to King James, even though he’s tried to hide his feelings about this in the past.
So with Irving potentially jumping ship, the offseason from hell just continues to get worse for a team that watched everyone else get better. Still, despite all that, James apparently is absolutely committed to the Cavs…at least for one more season.
“The four-time MVP winner, according to sources, is focused solely on competing for a championship as a member of the Cavs and will fulfill his contractual obligations despite what unexpected circumstances may arise,” Haynes wrote.
His devil-may-care attitude was readily apparent over the weekend when he appeared to respond to Irving’s trade demands.
Perhaps James sees the upcoming season as his greatest challenge yet. His defining chance to prove, once and for all, that his name really does deserve to be uttered in the same breath as Michael Jordan. We don’t know about all that, but we do know the 2017-18 season is setting up to be one of the most dramatic in recent memory, which can only be good for the Association in general.