LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers team have been in a funk lately, losing the majority of their recent games and doing so in embarrassing fashion. These embarrassments include defeats to the Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Golden State Warriors. While the Cavs have managed to slip past with timely victories against lower class opponents, they have failed to even challenge some of the best teams in the NBA. This is a concern for Cleveland as they have championship hopes but have shown they can’t compete with the best teams, the teams that they will inevitably have to defeat to reach their desired goal.
But with LeBron James leading his teams to the last seven NBA Finals, four straight in Miami and three straight in Cleveland, it is expected by many that he will naturally just lead them to the promised land again. But with the NBA becoming even more and more competitive, LeBron is going to need a little bit of help, more than ever this season, from his fellow companions, to reach the NBA Finals once again.
CP3 takes stand for LeBron
Despite being on the Houston Rockets, and focusing his own attention on the success of his own team, Chris Paul has spoken up about the Cleveland Cavaliers and their superstar LeBron James. The Rockets recently downed the Cavaliers, 120-88, in a dominating national television performance, and CP3 briefly spoke about the state of the Cavs after the game.
CP3 alerted the Cavaliers about having the greatest player of our generation on their team, and their lack of appreciation for it, saying:
“You’ve got LeBron James over there in that locker room. You know what I mean? What else the man need to do? Don’t take it for granted, man, don’t take it for granted.”
Chris makes a great point, LeBron James is a once in a lifetime basketball talent, like Michael Jordan was.
It is unacceptable if you have the rare chance to be one of his teammates, and you have a lack of effort when playing alongside him. Of course, it starts with the head of the snake being King James, he obviously needs to play better than he has recently. But his teammates... they need to do their own jobs much better as well.
The talent is there
It’s a surprise to many that the Cavaliers are struggling so hard with players like Isaiah Thomas, Kevin Love, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, and, of course, LeBron James on their team. All we have seen in the media lately is possible trade ideas and trade rumors involving the Cleveland Cavaliers, and, although they have valuable pieces, they are not playing to their potential. It’s time for the Cavaliers players to make a more committed effort and play harder, and like CP3 said, don’t take LeBron James for granted. If the Cavs want any success this season, it’s not just on the King himself, but on his troops as well.