Take that, Josh Gordon.
The Cleveland Browns wideout caused quite a stir when he made some pointed comments about the deteriorating relationship between Cleveland Cavaliers guards Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters
During an interview with ESPN, per the Akron Beacon Journal‘s Jason Lloyd, Gordon said that Waiters told him a “rift” between the two existed. The fact that Gordon and Waiters are neighbors only fueled speculation.
Fed up with recurring reports of his unhappiness in Cleveland and hatred for Waiters, Irving eventually called out Gordon. From Lloyd:
Guys like Josh Gordon need to stay in his sport and mind his own business. Does he still play for the Browns? I’ll continue to root for the Browns, but in terms of this stuff here, what goes on in this locker room, he needs to stay out of it.
The third-year point guard also took to Twitter with his frustrations. But don’t worry, Irving and Waiters are apparently all good.
Like, really good.
Some, like Irving himself, might even call them the best of friends.
Speaking to reporters together, Irving and Waiters addressed rumors regarding their relationship, according to The Plain Dealer‘s Mary Schmitt Boyer. Waiters appears to have smoothed things over between Irving and Gordon. More importantly, Irving squelched all talk of a “rift” existing between he and Waiters:
Honestly, off the court and on the court, we’re the best of friends. So when we come on the court, we’re just going to play basketball like we’ve been doing the past few games and our focus is on winning right now.
Well, that’s that.
Except it’s probably not.
Rumors will continue to run rampant in Cleveland until Irving’s future is determined—his “future” of course being the max extension he’ll be eligible to sign this summer.
Still, this is hardly a bad thing. It’s actually great. Irving has been deflecting all sorts of drama-related questions this year—most of them, again, pertaining to his future in Cleveland. That he’s finally addressing this one can only be seen as a rare good sign.
Waiters and Irving have allegedly been clashing forever. Reports started surfacing early this season, and recurring tidbits have dropped periodically since. All of them are crap if we’re to believe Irving. And why shouldn’t we believe him? Neither player has much to gain at this point by squashing rumors. The season’s almost over. If they say they’re good, then we’ll assume they’re good. Maybe at one point they were at odds, maybe not.
As for the whole “best of friends” gag, I have my doubts. If that’s the truth, why wait this long to quell rumors? Why didn’t they just shoot them dead from the beginning?
Also, if they are, in fact, the best of friends, where are the pictures from their nights out on the town? Their moonlit, horse-drawn carriage rides to and from Quicken Loans Arena? Does anyone have visual evidence of a secret handshake? Do they know each other’s middle names? Favorite food? Chapstick flavor of choice? Preferred method of hopscotching? Let’s administer a best friend test to find out.
In all seriousness, good for Irving and Waiters. Any time players can confront rumors head on and debunk them with a completely conflicting truth, it’s a good thing for the team.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
