Buggin’ Out: Cavs’ Irving was bitten by bed bugs night before game
Turns out, Kyrie Irving didn’t have a flu bug. He had bed bugs.
Following Monday’s loss to Detroit, the Cavaliers star guard said he left Sunday’s nationally televised game against the Thunder because he was shaken up after being bitten in his hotel room and not sleeping.
“As you can see I got it at the top of my head, it’s just like bed bugs and I didn’t get any sleep,” Irving said, showing reporters evidence of his encounter with the little critters. “We came into the game, then I was freaked out, then I started feeling nauseous.”
The Cavaliers stayed in the Skirvin Hilton in Oklahoma City on Saturday night.
When Irving left Sunday’s game after nine minutes, the team said he was dealing with flu-like symptoms. However, he said that was a cover-up to help him deal with being tired after sleeping for just three hours.
“Just imagine how freaked out you’d be if you saw friggin’ five, big bed bugs just sitting on your pillow,” he said. “I woke up itching and I’m just looking around and I’m like, ‘Are you serious right now?’ It was 3 a.m. and I was so tired at that point.”
Despite playing most of the game without Irving, the Cavs beat the Thunder 115-92.
Irving said he felt better Monday, when he scored a team-high 30 points in Cleveland’s 96-88 loss to the Pistons. He said his teammates didn’t have to tangle with the unwelcome visitors in his hotel.
“It is what it is,” he said. “I feel like I got the worst of it. I wound up sleeping on the couch, waking up my back was tight. It was a long night, two nights ago. I just wanted to get back home to Cleveland.”
Buyout deadline approaches: David Lee, Anderson Varejao and Andrea Bargnani have already hit the market. No decision has been made on Joe Johnson.
The buyout deadline is shaping up as more interesting than the trade deadline.
Players who were on a roster this season have to be waived by March 1 to be eligible to play for another team in the playoffs. Once the trade deadline passes, there are always some high-priced veterans who either weren’t moved, or were shipped to an undesired location, who negotiate their release to sign with a contender once they’ve cleared waivers.
Lee had lost a rotation spot in Boston, was waived when the Celtics didn’t make any moves before Thursday’s deadline, and was signed by Dallas on Monday. Varejao was dealt to Portland when Cleveland acquired Channing Frye and has agreed to a deal with Golden State, a person with knowledge of the deal said Sunday night.
Bargnani was gone shortly after new general manager Sean Marks took over, though it’s unclear how much interest, if any, there is in the former No. 1 overall pick.
Johnson could follow him out of Brooklyn if he sought a deal, though he hasn’t said if that would interest him. There would surely be interest in the former All-Star if he does become available.