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Sports

LeBron On Report of Melo-for-Love Trade: "It's Trash, and the Guy Who Wrote it is Trash Too"

LeBron did not hold anything back in disputing Frank Isola's report that he was pushing the Cavs to trade Kevin love for Carmelo Anthony.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News has carved out a somewhat unique niche in the world of sports journalism as a beat writer who is openly despised by the organization he covers, the New York Knicks. Fortunately for Isola, the Knicks lengthy record of incompetence has given him plenty of ammo in their two-decade flame war.

But Isola may have bitten off more than he can chew when he turned his sights on LeBron James, reporting Monday that the Cavs superstar/occasional GM was pushing the organization to acquire Knicks forward (and longtime James friend) Carmelo Anthony at the expense of teammate Kevin Love. Not only did James shoot down the report, but he also fired both barrels at the messenger:

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"It's trash, and the guy who wrote it is trash too for writing that, especially during the game like that. It's always about outside noise, and that's just outside noise for us. We've got to focus on what needs to be done in order for us to continue to compete for a championship. We've got who we've got. Our GM will do a great job of figuring out if we need something else, but right now, we're in a good place."

Despite the hate—and his abrasive persona—Isola is one of the better-connected reporters in the business, but this isn't the first time he's gone to the Melo-Love trade well to make a splash. He reported last year that the Knicks were shopping Melo in a three-way deal that would have sent Love to Boston. Nothing came of it then, and it is highly unlikely that will change now that Love has proven himself a valuable part of a title-winner.

Virtually everyone else connected with the story has shot it down, too. Including Ty Lue:

Ty Lue on the trade rumors: "Kevin (Love) should be happy that teams want him, but he's not going anywhere"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) February 7, 2017

And Love himself, with the ever relevant intersection of sports and politics:

There is just enough oxygen to keep this rumor burning, though, since James recently put the Cavs front office on notice when he told the press "We need a fucking playmaker," and he has long shown an interest in playing with Anthony, whom he has known since high school. Still, it's hard to believe he would—or even could—push for a Melo-Love swap.