Should LeBron be complaining about the Cavs' depth?
By Jay Blackwell.
The defending NBA champions are the Cleveland Cavaliers but so far this NBA season is hasn’t seemed like it. Yes, the Cavs are 30-14 and first in the Eastern Conference. And yes, their big three of Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and LeBron James are all healthy.
Still, this feels nor looks like a championship team. LeBron James knows it hence his comments this week. “We need a f—king playmaker,” James said. He then went on to say “It’s like when you don’t have bodies, it’s tough . . . the f—ing grind of the regular season. We’re a top-heavy team. We have a top-heavy team. We top-heavy as s—. It’s me, [Irving], [Love]. It’s top-heavy.”
James does have a very valid point. If the Cavs want any shot of beating the Warriors in a seven game series they need at least a backup point guard, if not a playmaker. It’s the fashion in which James goes about voicing his displeasures is what’s troubling and somewhat bothersome.
James, is without a doubt, the face of the franchise and leader of the team. Hence why his comments can’t be voiced out to the media like this. James has been to six straight NBA Finals and has a record of 3-4 in the Finals. He knows what it takes to get there and he knows what it takes to win and championship teams don’t have major distractions mid-season. They also don’t have their star player directly challenging the front office in the media and undermining the ability of their teammates either.
"No disrespect to DeAndre (Liggins) and to Kay, you think we can rely on them to help us win a playoff game right now?" James said.
James isn’t necessarily wrong at all with his comments but it’s not reflective of a good leader to publicly question the ability of your teammates and someone like James should know better.
The issue isn’t that the Cavaliers aren’t a good basketball team or won’t easily win the east again. It is the simple fact that they are not and will not ever be better than this current Warriors squad as assembled. Kevin Durant single handily makes the Warriors significantly better than the Cavaliers, especially if it’s during a seven game series.
Dan Gilbert has done all he can to make Cleveland a championship contender year in and year out. The Cavs are paying 127 million in luxury tax. What more could LeBron want?
If he’s going to complain so much about the make-up of the roster James should take a pay cut. After all he is the league’s highest paid player. Until then James should rally his Cavs and embrace the underdog role.
Its worked out well for them before…
