Lil Rel Howery Explained How Kyrie Irving Learned He Got Traded While Filming ‘Uncle Drew’

Kyrie Irving requesting a trade from the Cavaliers became the story of the late summer in the NBA, as Cleveland scrambled to find a suitable package for their All-Star point guard and teams around the league tried to make a deal happen to bring him in.

Ultimately, after posturing from the Cavs that they might keep him into training camp, Irving was dealt in late August to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn 2018 first round pick. Only Zizic and the pick remain in Cleveland after Thomas and Crowder were among the Cavs’ roster purge at the trade deadline, while Irving is having a spectacular season in Boston.

We know Irving was happy with the trade, but on Sunday night we learned exactly where he was when he found out he’d been dealt to Boston. Irving wasn’t spending his offseason vacationing or relaxing at home like many NBA players, but instead was in Atlanta filming the Uncle Drew movie. Lil Rel Howery, best known from Get Out, is also starring in the Uncle Drew film alongside Irving as one of the non-athlete stars and at the Oscars red carpet, he explained what it was like on set the day Irving found out about the trade.

“The dopest moment was when the trade actually went through, he was so happy, man,” Howery said. “We was in the middle of a scene. We was shooting a scene, his homeboy comes in and whispers in his ear and he just runs out the — we filming — he just runs out, we was in the club shooting a scene, runs out. So happy. He comes back and everybody’s applauding. And it was a dancing scene, so when you see it and he’s really getting it, that was real life. He was really happy.”

It’s not a huge surprise to know Irving was thrilled when he learned he was dealt to Boston, but it is a pretty hilarious visual to imagine him finding out while in full Uncle Drew makeup and running out of the room in excitement. When the movie comes out, be sure to watch for him on the dance floor giving it a little extra because of that excitement.