LeBron James ‘would have played a week ago’ if it was playoffs

Dec 30, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts on the sidelines against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James reportedly noted that if the team was in the playoffs right now, he “would have played a week ago.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers sorely miss LeBron James during his two-week hiatus, as would any team lucky enough to employ The King. The team announced at the onset of the new year that James would take a two week break to rest up pain and general fatigue in his back and knees. That’s just part of the process when you’ve played more than 40,000 minutes in the NBA. James was quick to note that if the playoffs were in session, the King would be attending court.

LeBron says that if it was playoffs, he would play tonight. If playoffs, would have played a week ago.
— Ethan J. Skolnick, 5 Reasons Sports (@EthanJSkolnick) January 7, 2015

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Instead, however, it’s the mid-season stretch for the Cavaliers and it makes sense for James to rest up now while the Cavs remain in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They can make a push for the top seed in a weak conference starting mid-January, when LeBron plans to return.

“My back is feeling a little better, my knee is feeling a little better, I think we’re on pace to get back as close to 100 percent as possible,” James told The Cleveland Plain Dealer. “So I’m excited about the next week.”

James noted that while he could hit the court right now if he had to, he could “never get my motor back to 100” percent. The Cavs need 100 percent of that motor so James has rested to the point where he’s not even attending games.

“He’s not supposed to be doing a whole lot of continuous sitting, or a lot of the team activities that are going on during games,” coach David Blatt said. “So that was really by design.”

James is scheduled to return to Cleveland on January 15, when they face the Los Angeles Lakers. The game should be a nice warm-up for James as he and the Cavs look to improve on a shaky first half of the season.

The Cavaliers jettisoned Dion Waiters and brought in Timofey Mozgov as well as J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in an effort to fortify the defense and provide a more balanced supporting cast to James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, who will obviously be critical to the team’s playoff success. Once James is healthy again, we’ll see how the lineup changes affect his and the team’s play.

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