Kobe Bryant, one of the league’s all-time fiercest competitors had a lot to say about LeBron and the Cavaliers after the final matchup between LeBron and Kobe on Thursday night. But according to Clevland.com, he had even more sage advice for the King of Akron.
“If I were him, I’d be obsessing over dealing with the boys up in Golden State… “From a leadership perspective, how you construct a team and the personality of a team, you have to make sure you’re ready to do battle for that if you’re fortunate enough to get there. . . (and) Golden State is fortunate enough to get there.”
It’s no surprise to NBA fans that Kobe would have that approach to the game, but does he raise a good point? Should LeBron embrace a little bit of the Mamba’s mantra to get the Cavaliers to a place where they can actually defeat the Warriors in a possible Finals rematch?
The Cavs have lost six straight to the Warriors, if you include last year’s Finals defeat. Also, lets not forget how they were completely embarrassed in January by the Warriors under previous head coach, David Blatt. The way this season is shaping up, it’s hard not think the Cavs are playing for second place.
Aside from focusing on beating the Golden State Warriors, the Cavs have been plagued by rumoured chemistry issues. Everything from cryptic tweets, to Kyrie and LeBron possibly not getting along, to still not knowing how to best use Kevin Love. It’s possible that their internal issues are preventing them from fully focusing on how to beat Golden State. Kobe had more advice for LeBron on that front, too.
“You have to figure [the Warriors] out. You can’t leave it to chance, you have to study. Hopefully his mind is focused on that. It’s not focused on where he is in his career and how far he is. You have to focus on the problem.”
Kobe is right. LeBron needs to study and focus on the task at hand. But who’s to say he isn’t already? LeBron can’t beat the Warriors alone. Every player on the team, the coaching staff, GM David Griffin, and owner Dan Gilbert all have to be locked in on that single goal as a franchise. Can the Cavaliers go from being the most dominant team in the East to the most dominant team in the league? We’ll have to see if they can pull it all together in time for the playoffs.
LeBron will listen to Kobe, but he’s probably already obsessed with beating the team by the Bay, just like every other title contender this season.
