The Cleveland Cavaliers are reeling on the heels of back-to-back lopsided losses, and to put it plainly, no one seems happy about it. LeBron James admitted that the Cavs are “in a funk” after Thursday night’s drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Raptors, and in addition, head coach Tyronn Lue voiced real concerns with the way the team is operating.
Beyond that, though, there is reportedly some individual criticism of James lurking, as Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com mentioned whispers about the best player in the world’s (lack of) ball movement.
Players have grumbled that James has slowed the ball movement, holding onto the ball until he sees an “assist” pass, rather than moving it quickly.
That is certainly a sweeping accusation, even if it does not come directly from a specific player on the record. It should be noted as well that Vardon passed along a quote from Isaiah Thomas after the Toronto defeat, and the talented point guard said that “offensively it’s a lot of one-on-one” with “no ball movement” from the team right now.
Because the Cavs have always seemed to thrive in the midst of chaos during the LeBron era, these concerns aren’t quite as pointed as they would be for a “normal” team with title aspirations. Still, Cleveland isn’t quite clicking on the offensive end in the way that the general NBA public would expect, and even with reasonably efficient results on the whole, they’ll need everything to come together before difficult playoff match-ups arrive.
