One of LeBron James‘ greatest strengths as a basketball player is his uncanny ability to distribute the ball and make his teammates better. In fact, he’s sometimes unselfish to a fault, according to a certain subset of his detractors. You may recall that, early in his career, he was often criticized for passing up big shots in clutch moments.
LeBron is facing a similar incarnation of that critique after the Cavs’ abysmal loss in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers over the weekend. Only this time, it’s coming directly from his head coach, Tyronn Lue.
Despite the loss, LeBron led the Cavs with a huge triple double — 24 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds — but his first shot attempt didn’t come until the end of the first quarter after the Pacers had already raced out to 17-point lead. Lue is challenging LeBron to come out guns blazing from the opening tip in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“He has to be aggressive and set the tone early,” Lue said Monday. “We talked about that today … being aggressive early, setting the tone, especially for these new guys, bringing these guys along. He understood that, but once again, he’s always a guy trying to get his teammates off early, get them guys going, then try to feel the game out. But be ready to set a tone.”
LeBron’s early efforts to get his teammates involved were essentially all for naught. Only two other players — J.R. Smith and Larry Nance Jr. — finished in double figures for the game, and the team as a whole shot just 38 percent from the field, including a frosty 23 percent from downtown.
Still, LeBron isn’t sweating it. As he told reporters after the game, being down 1-0 in an opening-round series isn’t much to get worked up about given how he and the Cavs overcome a historic 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors and win the title in 2016.
Nonetheless, there’s a lot riding on these playoffs for the organization as they will no doubt in large part determine LeBron’s future in Cleveland. And that future became even more uncertain on Monday when reports emerged that the Kawhi Leonard situation in San Antonio could in some way affect LeBron’s decision-making as well.
LeBron himself may not be feeling the pressure after their Game 1 loss, but that’s certainly not the case for Cavs fans or the team’s front office, who are staring down the barrel of his potential departure once again.
(Via ESPN)
