LeBron James: ‘This is Kyrie Irving’s show’

LeBron James has been through this before.

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When he first got to Miami, he experienced a much steeper learning curve than he expected figuring out how to play with fellow stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. He had to learn to play off the ball, and eventually settled into becoming a dominant post player and feeding teammates.

Kyrie Irving has had to learn no such things. Irving has been the best player for the Cleveland Cavaliers in each of his three seasons, and has dominated the ball at a 29 percent usage rate for his career.

During the Cavs media day, much of the talk had to do with Irving learning to play off the ball with such a great player joining his team. It seems like an obvious adjustment he will have to make, but as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal reports, James is saying not so fast.

"“In certain sets I’ll probably handle the ball a little bit, but this is Kyrie’s show,” James said. “He’s our point guard. He’s our floor general and we need him to put us in position to succeed offensively. He has to demand that from us with him having the ball.”"

These comments are in striking contrast to his time in Miami, where he often referred to himself as the best player on the team and the leader. It seemed more like a tug of war for the basketball with Wade his first season, than what seems to be happy concession to Irving.

On three horrible teams, Irving has had to dominate the ball in order for the Cavs to even score points. With James and Kevin Love, he will certainly have the ball in his hands less. But he has shown already that he can play along All-Star caliber talent, winning the Most Valuable Player award during last season’s All-Star Game and in a gold-medal performance during the FIBA Word Cup.

It will take a while for James, Irving and Love to figure it out but, luckily for them, James has already been through this. He can help lead them through it, too.

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