LeBron James‘ career has been in a perpetual state of Championship Or Bust seemingly since the moment he announced his decision to take his talents to South Beach back in 2010. As such, every single event of his season just feels like a significant, legacy-altering event no matter how ordinary it may be.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2017 has been a roller-coaster ride, and at every turn it seems like they’re in shambles. James is asking for help, the team is losing games they have no business losing, guys are going down with injuries and LeBron is leading the league in minutes per-game for some absurd reason?
Even with all of that, LeBron has the stoic demeanor of the dog in the house on fire in that meme, and despite his coach Tyronn Lue saying “We can’t run LeBron into the ground,” LeBron apparently has no plans to lighten his load as the playoffs approach. When confronted with the news that Kevin Love will miss six weeks with a knee surgery, and asked about resting even with Love out, LeBron responded with a succinct “I’ll rest when I retire.”
LeBron wasn’t done there though, as he confidently stated “As long as I’m in the lineup, we’ve got a chance.” Despite everything going on with the team, his gripes just weeks ago and now his workload increasing, LeBron remains confident. “Kev is out for an extended period of time. J.R. has been out. But I’m in the lineup. I’ll be suiting up, we’ve got a chance against anybody. I ain’t worried.” And finally, when reporters wondered if LeBron felt he would have to “step up” now with Love out, he quipped “I’ve never stepped down.”
It’s all quirky, confident stuff from James, but the reality is his 37.6 minutes a game is much more than the stated 32 a game his head coach would like him to play. And that tally is only likely to increase in the postseason as the Cavs look to overcome the odds again on his shoulders. The fear of James wearing down, or suffering some sort of injury as the stress on his body builds is palpable. Still, in the playoffs he’ll be afforded additional rest between games and ample recovery time, and with Kyrie Irving’s role on the team evolving by the day, there is light at the end of the tunnel for LeBron and the Cavs.
They just have to get there first.
