Fansided

LeBron says the Cavs need more

By Andrew Tobolowsky

Jan 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Cavaliers 124-122. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Cavaliers 124-122. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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There is a deeply held belief among a lot of the basketball twitterati – of which group I am an honorary member because of my wit, attractiveness, and extreme aversion to relevance. It is that good players deserve to be on good teams.

From one perspective, this makes a lot of sense. You want people who make YOU happy to be happy. Playing for a bad team sucks. Ergo, etc.

From another, it doesn’t. Why shouldn’t the fans of a team get to root for somebody they really enjoy even if the franchise is bad? This doesn’t have to factor into a player’s decision – nobody is a “traitor” for switching teams, and everyone’s entitled to work where they want. But neither does it mean you don’t get to be sad or mad about it.

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The interesting thing that’s happened in basketball over the last five years is it’s become super clear that players feel basically the same way – that THEY deserve to be on only the best teams. Pretty much anybody in high demand who’s been in the league long enough wants to go to a title favorite. Again, their business, and I don’t presume to tell them what to do.

But I gotta tell ya, this LeBron guy more than anyone else seems like he thinks he deserves not just to be on a good team – which by virtue of being way better than anyone else at basketball, he always is – but on a prohibitive favorite.

After a recent loss, LeBron had to say, among other things, “Personally, I don’t got no time to waste. I’ll be 33 in the winter, and I ain’t got no time to waste.” If you just saw the quote, you would be forgiven for thinking that it was from someone like Carmelo Anthony, a prodigiously talented player who was never on a good enough team in his prime. Or Chris Paul, a great player on a good team who’s never won a ring and is starting to have trouble staying on the court.

Instead, of course, it’s from a guy who has been to six straight NBA Finals and won three of them. Including the last one. It’s from a guy who probably broke collusion rules to join a team that was supposed to win – how many was it, eight titles in a row? If every year you’re only a favorite to win the Finals, and not the favorite is a wasted year, you’ve lived a pretty good NBA life.

Even today this struggling team doesn’t seem so struggling. The Cavs currently lead the Raptors by two wins for the top seed in the East, and of course when they get going they’re really way better than the Raptors, as they are any team besides the Warriors, Spurs, and maybe at some points the Rockets.

LeBron says the team needs a playmaker, and what he means is he expects them to go out and get a playmaker. But, of course he doesn’t “need” a playmaker, other than in the sense that all teams need something. Because you can’t have everything. Because that’s the point of playing the games.

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LeBron claims the team is top heavy, but of course that’s literally the point of the salary cap. If you’re going to have three star players, you’re going to be top heavy. Plus, he’s the reason they’re paying Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith a combined $30 million a year for the next three years. Plus, he’s the reason they have K-Love instead of the much more affordable Andrew Wiggins.

Plus, Shaq and Kobe won three titles with Devean George, Derek Fisher, and Rick Fox.

Plus, c’mon man.

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