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CLEVELAND -- As if the Cavaliers and Browns dont have enough trouble winning games. Nike Free 5.0 V4 Herr . Now their most prominent stars are going at it. Cavs All-Star guard Kyrie Irving and Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon spent the past few days in a media spat, exchanging barbs across TV, Twitter and newspaper. Gordon, who led the NFL with yards receiving last season, fired the first verbal volley last week when he went on ESPNs "First Take" and discussed Irvings problems this season with teammate Dion Waiters. "I talked about it with Dion," Gordon said. "Hes my neighbour in my building so we hang out all the time. Im aware of the rift in the locker room. Thats just alpha males and supreme athletes trying to share the spotlight." Irving didnt waste any time in shooting back, telling the Akron Beacon Journal, "Guys like Josh Gordon need to stay in his sport and mind his own business. Does he still play for the Browns? Ill 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." On Sunday, Gordon responded to Irving via social media by tweeting: "Smh. (shake my head). ... i touched a nerve." Following Mondays practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts, Waiters and Irving, standing side-by-side against a wall, attempted to clear up any misunderstanding. They insist they get along well. "Weve been friends before we even made the NBA, before any of this," Waiters said. "I just think yall saying we dont like playing with one another, yeah, we still need to learn certain things. But I think at the end of the day, were genuinely friends. I love him as a friend, teammate, everything. I just want everybody to know that. "I dont hate this guy. Im pretty sure he dont hate me. I know he dont hate me. I hope he dont hate me. Rome wasnt built in one day. Were still young. Were still planning to stay together. Were still working. As long as weve got great communication down its fine." Irving said he has spoken to Gordon about the comments. "I just let him know that the whole situation kind of got blown out of proportion," Irving said. "There was no disrespect on my end to him or anything he does. I have the utmost respect for him." Before Saturdays home game against Charlotte, Irving said he has grown tired of media reports saying he wants to leave Cleveland. "The barrage and little bit of attack that I saw, Ive been getting it all season and I feel I definitely dont deserve it," he said. "Its one of those things where I can deal with it, but at a certain point, its gotten too much. Its been like that the whole entire season." Irving then went out and scored a career-high 44 points in a 96-94 overtime loss that pushed the Cavs to the edge of elimination from the playoff chase. Irving, who recently returned from a biceps injury, said he has been unfairly scrutinized. "Its all nonsense to me," he said. "Thats part of the business. I get it. Its part of the job. To go out and frame my character to something its not. ... Im not an attention seeker. I dont go out trying to put all these rumours out. For people that feel that its a good thing to continue to put my name in the headlines to get reads, thats your job, but at a certain point its got to stop." Irvings stance is the latest turbulence in what has been a bumpy season for the Cavs. The team fired general manager Chris Grant in March, and the Cavs have been wildly inconsistent in a season in which owner Dan Gilbert had predicted would end with the first playoff appearance since 2010 -- before LeBron James left. The Cavs can offer Irving, the MVP in this years All-Star game, a maximum contract extension this summer. Irving has said he enjoys playing in Cleveland but has been noncommittal about whether hell accept the long-term deal. Maybe Gordon knows. Nike Air Max 90 Dam Rea . -- Amid stories about Jeremy Lin and the upcoming all-star game, the Detroit Pistons have quietly become one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Nike Air Max 90 Sverige . Van Riemsdyk scored twice and Nikolai Kulemin picked up the game-winner as Toronto snapped a three-game losing skid with a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Maple Leafs (12-7-1) placed the newly acquired Holland on its top line between Phil Kessel and van Riemsdyk.ATLANTA - B.J. Upton would like a do-over on his debut season with the Braves. The subject came up when Upton, as part of the teams winter promotional tour, made a recent visit to Redan High School in the Atlanta area. He was asked by a student if would change anything in his career. Upton didnt hesitate before answering, "Anything in baseball? Last year. The whole last season." Its an understandable wish. After signing the biggest free-agent contract in Braves history — $75.25 million for five years — Upton endured a nightmarish 2013 season. He hit only .184, struck out in more than one-third of his at-bats and was benched. The only highlights were playing beside his younger brother, Justin Upton, in the outfield and seeing the Braves advance to the playoffs. "Definitely it was tough," B.J. Upton told The Associated Press. "You know, baseball is going to throw you some curveballs, so to speak." After missing far too many curveballs — and fastballs and sliders — Upton is writing off the season as an aberration. "Maybe not to that magnitude, but at some point I think every player goes through that type of season," he said. "As long as you can learn from it so that some of the things that happened wont happen again, thats all you can ask." The new start begins with spring training. Braves pitchers and catchers report on Thursday. The full squad reports on Feb. 18, and the first full-squad workout is Feb. 19. Upton impressed his teammates and manager Fredi Gonzalez by continuing to spend extra time on his swing through his disappointing season. "Hes one of the hardest workers on the team," said third baseman Chris Johnson. "Hes always in the cage. Those two brothers are workhorses." Assistant hitting coach Scott Fletcher said Upton never changed hhis demeanour, even after losing his starting job. Nike Air Max 90 Dam Leopard. "He didnt pout," Fletcher said. "He just kept working. He was ready for anything that Fredi needed from him. That shows a lot of his character. I look for him to come back and do well. Thats just the type of competitor he is. Hes had a lot of great years and hes going to continue to do that. I think hes going to have some great years for us." Upton hit 28 homers and had 31 stolen bases in 2012 with Tampa Bay. He hit only nine homers with 12 steals last season. The Braves need Upton, 29, to at least approach his career .248 batting average. Upton worked on his swing at his off-season home in Tampa, Fla., where he had a visit from Braves hitting coach Greg Walker. "My reports from Greg have been positive," said Braves general manager Frank Wren. "I think hes approached the off-season well. From what Greg has seen of his work, he thinks its steps in the right direction." After last season, Wren said Upton may have tried too hard to show he deserved the big contract. "Its a deep hole that gets deeper and deeper the harder you try," Wren said. "Weve seen dozens and dozens of players go through it." Upton said he didnt expect such a difficult transition to the National League. "Its just the nature of the beast," Upton said. "You come to a new organization and a new league and its just a whole bunch of variables that I dont think you really think of affecting you as a player, and they might have the slightest bit. I dont think a lot of guys see it really hitting them that hard. It was just a totally different situation. "Obviously you dont want it to go that way. I dont regret it. Maybe it was something I needed to happen. Its not something Im going to dwell on. Its a fresh start and I get to move on." cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' '
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