Cavs player hopes Kyrie will stay with team: 'We've had a lot of joy'
Warning: Story contains coarse language
Kyrie Irving has reportedly asked the Cavaliers to trade him, and not even his own teammates saw it coming.
But while much has been made about LeBron James' reaction to his running mate's possible defection, there are still those within the Cavs' locker room that are holding out hope that bruised egos and general dissatisfaction can be mended and abated.
"Sure, we've had our fair share of moments and kind of chaotic times, and that's obviously been well documented, but at the same time we've had a lot of joy," one Cavs player told sources told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Dave McMenamin, and Brian Windhorst. "I hope Kyrie is with us, that's all I got to say. At the end of the day, we're pretty f---ing good."
Cleveland selected Irving No. 1 in the 2011 NBA draft, one offseason after LeBron left his home state Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat. Since LeBron returned in July 2014, joining Irving and All-Star big man Kevin Love, the team has represented the Eastern Conference in each of the past three finals, with Cleveland winning their first NBA Championship in 2016.
Related: Irving's exit would kick-start Cavs' downfall
While the team came up short against the Warriors in this year's Finals, Irving set a number of new personal bests in the regular season, including points per game (25.2), games played (72), and field goal percentage (47.3), in addition to being named an All-Star for the fourth time in five seasons.