Let LeBron Live
Being at the top of the world sure has its perks, but it also has its downfalls. The four-time MVP and two-time NBA champion has been living this harsh reality over the past several days.
"I think it does suck that people want to throw my name in the dirt," James said.
Former head coach David Blatt was fired Friday January 22, 2016, and replaced by assistant coach Tyronn Lue. During Blatt's career with the Cleveland Cavaliers he guided the Cavs to the NBA Finals last year, and had the Eastern Conference best record (30-11) midway through the season. However, that may not have suited the Cavaliers organization, for he was fired due to lack of fit with the teams personnel and future vision.
One could imagine David Blatt's jaw taking a big "splat" to the ground as he heard the news of his firing.
Should LeBron James get blamed for the firing of David Blatt? Did LeBron actually sit Blatt down and tell him his talents were no longer needed in Cleveland?
Now, the only ones who would know the proper responses to these questions would be the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. So, why do we continue to nit-pick at this situation? Is it because LeBron James is the best player in the league, and may have the capabilities of playing a role in the firing of personnel above him? Or, is it because deep down inside our media hungry minds wants us to believe that LeBron James played a major role in David Blatt's firing? Therefore, we're not accepting no for an answer. We're going to keep digging deeper and deeper into this situation until we get the edge of the story that we want. Which could very well be "LeBron James had David Blatt fired." Wouldn't that make a heck of a story? Wishful thinking my media hungry associates, but it's not going to happen.
Without actually knowing the full story of what went on behind closed doors people have labeled LeBron James a "coach killer, " while portraying him as a puppet master pulling the strings behind the scenes in order to elevate what he wants in a head coach.
"It sucks," James said. "But what can I do about it? I've never, in my time since I picked up a basketball, ever undermined a coach, ever disrespected a coach. You ask any of my little league coaches, my high school coaches, coaches I've played for in tournaments, camps, my NBA coaches. I've always respected what they wanted to do. And I'm not the owner of a team, I'm not the GM of a team. I'm the player of a team."
"People get it so misconstrued because I'm a smart basketball player and I've voiced my opinion about certain things, which I did when I was here my first stint with Paul Silas and Mike Brown. Which I did in Miami with Coach Spo [Erik Spoelstra]. Which I did with Blatt and I'll do with T-Lue. And at the end of the day, they'll still have their final call."
Cavalier's general manager David Griffin made it very clear on how he feels about LeBron's position within this Cleveland organization.
"LeBron plays for this team, and he's the leader of this team and he desperately wants to bring a championship to this team," Griffin said. "LeBron doesn't run this organization. LeBron is about this organization, and he is of this organization and he's of our community, but this narrative that somehow we're taking direction from him, it's just not fair. It's not fair to him, in particular, but frankly, it's kind of not fair to me and our group anymore."
Let's know our facts first before we find ourselves miscontruing the truth.
