Lazy, Coach-Killer LeBron?

That's what they're saying about King James at present:

Is LeBron James getting lazy?
LeBron James calls criticism that he called for Blatt's job unfair

Some have labeled James a "coach killer" for his perceived involvement in Blatt's ouster, portraying James as a puppet master pulling the strings in order to elevate his preferred coach, Tyronn Lue, to the top spot.

"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."

"Lazy" is a word that gets thrown around way too much these days, so I'm not sure that it's necessarily accurate. However, something does seem to be up with LeBron. It's not that he's playing terribly, but there doesn't seem to be the same fire or dominance that he's shown in the past, even as recently as last year's Finals when he was turning in an historic effort in an ultimately losing effort. I'm thinking fatigue and lingering injuries have to be playing a role here. With deep Playoff runs, five straight NBA Finals appearances, and a couple of Olympic Games in the past decade, he's had some long seasons of basketball, a lot of mileage. He can still be explosive, but there are times when he's seemingly not getting out of second gear, and layups that were once emphatic dunks. He may not be 100% right now.

There definitely seems to be something going on behind the scenes with his coaches, but there's probably also more to their departures than "LeBron didn't like him". That is to say, even if LeBron and his entourage forced or at least actively encouraged some of those coaching changes, they weren't necessarily the wrong calls for the team to make. It may seem shadier than usual, but star players having that kind of influence isn't anything new.

LBJ having anything to do with Blatt's firing directly is all speculations. Media as usual blew it all up and made it look like it was all LBJ.

The Cavs boycotted the game against Portland, which was not good for Blatt.
http://www.blazersedge.com/2016/1/22/10 ... il-blazers





I don't know if LBJ's getting lazy but he did clearly stated couple times this season that he wants to play all 82 games and was upset when the Cavs decided to 'rest' him via DNP-CD. His decline could be anything or combination of getting old, chemistry, mental, experimenting, coaching, external factors, etc. I think age is definitely a factor though, he's 31 with lots of mileage and his style relies on powering and muscling so perhaps body has taken a toll bit early. MJ and Dirk made it up with skills and relying on indefensible go-to move so perhaps there's little hope for LBJ if he's able to adjust.

I was a fan of Dwight Howard until he outed SVG in Orlando and the drama he caused there and it's pretty much how I feel about LeBron James nowadays too.

Far to much pulling power here, not getting along with coaches is one thing. It happens but to have so much say in roster management among other things is just to much control for my liking

Teams that don't consult with their players on roster construction, especially their stars, do so at their own peril.

If LeBron got Blatt fired, that would be the first coach LeBron has gotten fired. Dan Gilbert/Danny Ferry fired Paul Silas after taking over the team. Mike Brown was let go for Byron Scott without consulting LeBron. Erik Spolestra was coaching in Miami before LeBron got there and is still coaching in Miami after he left.

Stars discussing game plans with coaches is normal:

And in Game 2 of the 1984 Finals, Larry Bird famously told Celtics coach K.C. Jones, "Give me the ball. I know what to do," to which Jones responded, "Shut up, Larry, I'm the coach of this team." Then he gave his instructions: "Inbound the ball, get it to Larry, and everybody else get out of the way."

Teams that don't consult with their players on roster construction, especially their stars, do so at their own peril.

If LeBron got Blatt fired, that would be the first coach LeBron has gotten fired. Dan Gilbert/Danny Ferry fired Paul Silas after taking over the team. Mike Brown was let go for Byron Scott without consulting LeBron. Erik Spolestra was coaching in Miami before LeBron got there and is still coaching in Miami after he left.

Stars discussing game plans with coaches is normal:

And in Game 2 of the 1984 Finals, Larry Bird famously told Celtics coach K.C. Jones, "Give me the ball. I know what to do," to which Jones responded, "Shut up, Larry, I'm the coach of this team." Then he gave his instructions: "Inbound the ball, get it to Larry, and everybody else get out of the way."

Spolestra nearly lost his job too apparently... read this : http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2611 ... stra-fired

I don't know the accuracy of the source tough, coming from the Heat's minority owner

which... unlikely true.

https://twitter.com/lebatardshow/status ... 6685360132

Riley told James that Spoelstra is his guy and that firing Spoelstra is out of the question. That was the main reason LeBron returned to Cleveland.

But...LeBron liked Spoelstra after the first year and especially after the first title as they spent the offseason scheming after coming to the same conclusion about scrapping the "traditional" lineups they had been trying to use for "positionless basketball" that would maximize LeBron's talents while not taking away Wade's opportunities by flanking them with guys like Battier and Miller and Allen and Jones and etc. "out of position". That's why LeBron finally worked so hard on his post game and bulked up to guard bigs. (He slimmed back down last year because he expected to cede the post to Love and co...also stopped taking the Cheat's patented HGH.) He basically played point-center considering what Bosh was doing by the end.

LeBron left because he knew the Heat's run was done and he didn't want to try and carry an aging and broken team to the Finals by himself...

It was touch and go there in miami at the beginning tho with coach and LeBron, everyone remembers the shoulder barge he gave going into the timeout

I certainly remember it, but it's something that can also be easily blown out of proportion. With Pat Riley calling the shots, Spo's job was probably never in danger.

LeBron wanted Spo gone because he thought Spo led Heat were going to be a big threat to him when he's with the cavs. But he did suceed in tainting relationship btwn wade and franchise, getting Heat to overpay Bosh, and getting them to draft napier.

I think with Napier it was more that LeBron tweeted he liked him so the Heat went and drafted him thinking that it would help resign Him.

Sure, I think a lot of it is just teams trying to please him, but I tihnk he's big enough to the point where he almost expects them to please him and maybe uses it to his advantage?

hard to measure dominance, passion and fire

a few weeks back it was pointed out by our stat friends James is having a horrid season with his midrange range shot. he's taking less 3pt shots but the conversion rate of the other shots are well below is career averages.

Certainly no stat for it in the boxscores. But in any event, at times he's looked a lot less explosive, less "unguardable" than in years past. It's looking like all the long seasons might be catching up to him.

Welp. Wiggins scores mere 5 pts in a loss against under average Jazz team where Rodney Hood, a fellow draft class man, outplayed him. That came with 0 rebound 0 assist 0 blk but only other his stats were 2 fouls and 2 steals. In the meantime, Kevin Love put together a couple nice consecutive games. The thing about Wiggins is that he has no game outside of scoring so his game hurts the team when he's scoring poorly. He needs to add more to his game. Right now we know that he ain't gonna be LBJ even if he's only 20. If you ask me, he's Melo if works out or Rudy Gay if not.

Didn't benji and sauru cry a river about Love trade how dumb it is to trade Canadien superstar for stat padding Love who'll walk end of season? Welp, here Love is a Cavs for years to come if not traded/waived. How about Wiggins's value? Do you think his trade value is higher at this point or was it higher when he didn't log a single minute in this league?

I am wondering why everyone's thinking the Cavs entirely lost on Love trade and I'm the only one thinking it has worked out for the Cavs.

Didn't benji and sauru cry a river about Love trade how dumb it is to trade Canadien superstar for stat padding Love who'll walk end of season?

lol no.

Cavaliers agree in principle (with MIN/PHI) to win the NBA Championship

but but I remember defending the trade while you were on rampage against me with your wife Sauru's full support.