LeBron James reportedly at odds with Cavaliers front office
The Cavs’ season could be teetering on the brink of disaster with reports that LeBron is airing his grievances straight to the team’s execs.
Over the past month, the woes of the Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the biggest stories in the NBA. During that time, we’ve seem them lose by more than 20 points to the Thunder, Rockets, Raptors and even the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Those huge on-court struggles actually seem to pale in comparison to the tensions currently facing the Cavaliers front office. According to the Athletic’s Jason Lloyd, that strain stems from the troubling relationship between LeBron James and some team executives.
According to Lloyd, those issues started in the offseason when James wanted the team to have Kyrie Irving join the team for training camp. However, the front office decided to listen to the All-Star’s trade request and trade him to the Celtics. That issue got more severe as the team completed that deal without talking to LeBron, according to one of Loyd’s sources.
A more recent example of LeBron’s issues with the Cavaliers front office came in late January. Following a weekend game against the OKC Thunder, LeBron reportedly cursed out two team executives during a team meeting regarding the organization’s handling of Kevin Love after he left that game with an illness. The tension dealt with some players questioning the legitimacy of that illness and how they wanted management to hold Love accountable.
Those differing issues has been pushed to the point where James has “no relationship” with owner Dan Gilbert or new general manager Koby Altman, who took over the team when Gilbert didn’t renew the contract of former GM David Griffin after the 2016-17 season.
Although Altman is listed as the team’s general manager, Gilbert reportedly has taken control of the team’s basketball operations. That situation combined with James reportedly not being on speaking terms with Gilbert leaves way more question marks than you’d imagine from the reigning Eastern Conference champions.
Despite those troubles, James won’t waive his no-trade clause before Thursday’s trade deadline, according to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. That means that LeBron will remain a member of the Cavaliers until the 2018 off-season.
Next: NBA Trade Deadline 2018 rumor and trade tracker
Will he be able to mend those woes with the Cavaliers and stay in Cleveland? Or will take his talents to another team? We’ll have to wait and see.