By now, there are so many conflicting stories on what made Kyrie Irving request a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. However, there are consistent themes that have been present in nearly all of these reports.
(1) Irving wanted to evolve and challenge himself as a player, something he felt he had to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers to do.
(2) Irving felt like the Cleveland Cavaliers “didn’t want [him] there”
The first point is more matter of fact than the latter. Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue rarely challenged Irving to evolve as a player, settling for the elite scoring machine that Irving was as a point guard.