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.
