Tyronn Lue Reiterated That LeBron James Is The Best Player In The World


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During the 2015 NBA Finals, LeBron James confidently stated in a postgame press conference that he was the best player in the world. This was the general consensus for quite some time in the NBA but to hear James state it was rather new. And while James and the Cavs would go on to lose that year’s championship series to the Warriors, he reaffirmed the belief that he is truly the best player in the world by ending the city of Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought after leading his team all the way back from a 3-1 deficit against the Warriors in the 2016 Finals.

This year, James and the Cavs find themselves in a familiar position after losing the first two games of the Finals to the Warriors. But their confidence is unwavering, especially since as Cavs coach Tyronn Lue reminded reporters before Game 3 on Wednesday, Cleveland has the best player in the world in James.

Q. Do you feel like you can get the ultimate production out of LeBron James if he is — you ask him what you ask him on the offensive end, but then he has a heavy dose of trying to hold [Kevin Durant]? Can he play extended minutes doing both?

COACH LUE: Yes, he can. That’s why he’s the best player in the world. He has to do it. K.D.’s guarding him, so the first five or six minutes, just to set the tone, I think, of guarding K.D., being physical. And then when we go to our bench, we can bring guys in that we can put on K.D. And it’s just not a one-on-one game. We have to understand what our schemes are, who we’re trying to help off of and what we’re trying to do. Guarding Kevin Durant or LeBron James or Steph Curry, any of those guys one-on-one, Kyrie, you’re not going to be able to do that. So you have to understand what you’re doing scheme-wise, and you have to follow the game plan.

Clearly Lue and James are in sync and very much on brand. But Lue’s assertion that James is the best and can handle guarding Kevin Durant while still playing at a high level on offense, echoes what the Cavs superstar said himself earlier in the day. James has the utmost confidence in himself, especially since he is averaging a triple-double during the Finals.

However Lue’s and James’ own belief in himself needs to translate to tangible results on the court for Game 3. Sure James is averaging a triple-double but Durant has been able to essentially score at will as Golden State’s elite offense has Cleveland scrambling at times. As Lue says, James can’t do it all by himself as his teammates have to step up as well. But since James is the best player in the world, he will largely shoulder the burden of trying to defeat the Warriors and it is on him to try to get the Cavs into the series with a victory.

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