Kyrie Irving made harsh threat to Cavaliers if they didn't trade him

One of the most shocking trades of the NBA offseason in 2017 came when the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas. When the word broke that it was Irving who demanded the trade, the Cavs fans turned on him. However, soon the fans learned that Irving felt that he needed to leave the team due to issues beyond his control and it seemed the entire ordeal was water under the bridge. Now, a new report from Cleveland.com may open old wounds. The site reports that Irving made a huge threat to the Cavaliers if they didn't trade him and it sounds like he gave the team no choice in the matter.

What was Kyrie Irving's threat to Cleveland?

Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com is the definitive source of insider news for the Cavaliers. He is more often right than not and he reported that Kyrie Irving left Cavs owner Dan Gilbert no other choice when it came to trading him. Irving was angry that Cleveland had let general manager David Griffin leave and when he learned that they wanted to trade him for Paul George, Irving decided he was no longer wanted in Cleveland and demanded the trade.

However, Kyrie Irving didn't just demand a trade, but he made a threat to the Cavs if they didn't trade him. Gilbert did not have to trade him at all and could have held onto the point guard and forced him to remain with the team.

The problem is that Irving told Griffin that he would not play this season if they didn't trade him and would sit out the season by having voluntary knee surgery.

Are these claims true?

Vardon said that he hasn't gotten confirmation from the Cleveland Cavaliers or from Kyrie Irving's agent yet. However, Irving does need minor knee surgery to clean up a procedure he went through in the 2015 NBA Finals when he broke his kneecap.

This is normally done in the offseason, and Irving would be ready to play. However, if he waited until the season started, it could cost his team months of play.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in third place in the Eastern Conference and are losing more games than they are winning right now. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving and the Boston Celtics are in first place and he is averaging 24.5 points per game.

Despite this, the Cavaliers are reportedly not feeling remorse for trading Irving since he did not want to be in Cleveland anymore at all.

LeBron James is not happy that the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Kyrie Irving. However, LeBron spoke to Irving about it and said that he was ok with the point guard's decision. With that said, this is also something that will push LeBron to possibly cut ties with Cleveland when his contract expires at the end of this season.