AJ Neuharth-Keusch

USA TODAY Sports

After playing just nine minutes before leaving the floor during Sunday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of "flu-like symptoms," Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving told reporters that it wasn't the flu that kept him out of the game, but instead claimed that he was dealing with some adverse effects caused by bed bugs that he encountered at the hotel the night before.

"We came into the game, then I was freaked out, then I started feeling nauseous,” Irving said per the New York Post.

"Just imagine how freaked out you’d be if you saw friggin’ five, big bed bugs just sitting on your pillow. 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."

He ended up being OK and went on to score 30 points against the Pistons the next night, but his incident wasn't the first time something strange happened to an NBA player in the downtown Oklahoma City Hotel, the Skirvin Hilton.

While Irving may be the outlier when it comes to bed bugs, there are ghost tales aplenty that span across the NBA in relation to the historic hotel.

According to legend told via the Oklahoman, William Skirvin — the hotel's original owner during the Prohibition era — imprisoned his pregnant mistress (known as Effie) on the top floor of the building to hide evidence of his adultery and illegitimate child from the public. As the legend goes, she eventually escaped from captivity, and jumped with her child from the top of the building, resulting in both of their deaths.

"Everyone knows about [Effie]," former Thunder forward Caron Butler told the New York Times in 2014. "Hopefully, she'll haunt all the teams that come for the playoffs," he joked.

But for many other players throughout the league, the legend of Effie is no joking matter.

In 2010, Eddy Curry — a 7-foot, 295 pound center — expressed his fear of the hotel after traveling to Oklahoma City with the Knicks. "They said it happened on the 10th floor, and I'm the only one staying on the 10th floor," he told the New York Daily News. "That's why I spent most of my time in [Nate Robinson's] room. I definitely believe there are ghosts in that hotel."

Yes, he turned to his 5-9, 180 pound teammate for protection against paranormal beings.

In 2011, Chicago Bulls power forward Taj Gibson shared his personal account of the hauntings with ESPN after staying at the hotel. "At one point, at around 12:15 at night, my bathroom door just slammed completely shut," Gibson said. "I don't know what it was, but it just completely slammed. It took me a minute to kind of figure out what [it] was."

According to the New York Times, Jordan Hamilton and Wesley Johnson aren't too fond of the Skirvin, either.

In 2012, Hamilton send out a Tweet in reference to the Skirvin. "This hotel creeps me out every time we come here," it read. In 2013, Johnson claimed that he woke up and found his bath tub full of water and his bathroom door closed.

Most recently, Los Angeles Lakers guard Louis Williams decided not to take any risks, and reportedly checked out of the hotel to stay at a different location.

His decision to flee came as no surprise, though. During his time with the Toronto Raptors, Williams referenced the hotel during an episode of Open Gym on the Raptors YouTube channel. "I've heard it's haunted and some not so pleasant things happen there," he said. "So, I don't stay there when we go to OKC. I provide my own place to stay."

Well played, Lou Will.

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