Brian Windhorst is as plugged in to all things LeBron as anyone in the media. He has been reporting on LBJ since high school. He writes "this is a different situation" from those in the past and he is absolutely correct there. His column is different, too; it is self-revelatory. Although at one point he writes that James "is absolutely culpable" his "on the one hand, on the other hand" assignment of culpability is, in my view, incorrect, this is James' team, it's broken and like in Pottery Barn, James has to own it, and Windhorst is thus disingenuous as well: he does not blame James entirely, he rewrites history from a LBJ perspective. Windhorst casts blame on Dan Gilbert and management for the Kyrie Irving fiasco when the FACT is Kyrie Irving did not want to play with LeBron James any longer. The "Cavs" didn't want to fucking trade Irving, Irving forced them to. BECAUSE OF JAMES. The FACT is James ultimately gave his blessing to an Irving trade. Isaiah Thomas, acquired in the Irving trade, is the straw that stirs the poisonous potion in Cleveland. The team won 18 of 19 in November and December then went into the current tailspin. What changed? Thomas joined the team from injury. Cleveland should trade cut or waive--do anything--to get rid of the guy.
...the Cleveland Cavaliers are out of time. It's preposterous to say that in February for a team with a history of turning things around and doing it when they have to. However, they are in a preposterous situation.
They aren't just looking at losing this season, but they are looking at losing LeBron James. If tomorrow were the beginning of free agency, there's a good chance that would be the case.
The Cavs players do not trust each other. It appears as if some of them don't like each other.
[How did THAT happen and whose fault is that? Who got Dwayne Wade to come to Cleveland in September when other players on the team were against it--because it would hurt team chemistry?lebron-james-dwyane-wade-cavs-signing-teammates-against-it-2017-11 In June, Jimmy Butler was told by "several players" on the "Cavaliers" not to come to Cleveland Turn_Around_Dorothy. Who? Why? Still don't know who but Jalen Rose, describing what he saw last night, “No pride, no emotion, no passion, no enthusiasm." said this: "And there’s going to be a lot of talk about players quitting on the organization. Are players quitting on the coach? You know what I see? Players quitting on LeBron. Kyrie Irving — he probably saw this coming.”Players_Quitting_on_LeBron]
Their coach...has failed to motivate his veteran team...Nonetheless, he is not at the center of the storm.
This is all a whirlwind around LeBron James vs. the Cavs front office, which is to say it's about James vs. owner Dan Gilbert.
James...is completely dispirited. Never before in his career has he played like this. Maybe on the occasional midseason evening he has been less than energetic -- in the past, he has called it "chill mode" -- but never like this.
Since the end of the NBA Finals last season, James has watched as Jimmy Butler, [Chris] Paul, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin have been traded. None of them were sent to the Cavs. When the Cavs traded Kyrie Irving, the centerpiece of the deal was a draft pick.
Looking through his eyes, you can understand why he's frustrated.
[He ought to be looking in the mirror.]
You can understand why he sometimes feels like the organization hasn't kept the pedal down.
[No, you can NOT understand that. That is a completely un-understandable feeling! Dan Gilbert has paid out the ASS for the players on this team, James' players, James' team, Gilbert is so deep in luxury tax hell he can't sell the team.]
When he sees Isaiah Thomas struggling, trying so hard to fight through a devastating injury but having to go so slow that he's hindering the Cavs instead of helping them, he wonders why they traded Kyrie Irving at all.
[Gettin' pissed.]
And why they took the deal with the Boston Celtics, even though they had a chance to back out [when Isaiah Thomas failed his Cleveland physical. Thomas was more seriously injured than the Celtics let on and that the "Cavs" believed.]
[One cannot negotiate on one's knees, Windhorst/LBJ, the "Cavs" had NO "CHANCE to back out of the trade" when Irving put his foot down, hell, he allegedly threatened to have knee surgery to keep from going back to Cleveland. The playing relationship with LEBRON JAMES was irreparable, Irving was not going back to Cleveland as long as James was there.]
James must wonder: If the organization won't go all-in to try to keep the best team around him, would he want to be elsewhere? Would he want to waive his no-trade clause?
[Pissed. That is utter bullshit.]
Instead, he stews.
Then the Cavs look back and point out James will not commit to them past this season. Point out they tried to get him another star when coming to the brink of a deal for George last summer but stopped when James declined to commit to the franchise. They point out that they have the highest payroll in the NBA and are paying a hideously painful repeater luxury tax. That the team lost $18 million last season because it spent $25 million on luxury taxes.
...
Instead, they stew.
To those who know him...
[Windhorst. Self-revelatory.]
...it was concerning two weeks ago in San Antonio when James came into a close game in the fourth quarter and seemed to just let the game go. He has come into hundreds of games like that, and if he didn't lead his team to victory, he went to the finish line clawing.
[Uh, YEAH! That is "concerning."]
In the games since, James' defensive effort has further wilted. His aggression has waned. His frustration has extended. And his leadership, which at times has been controversial in its style but never questioned in its intent, has faded.
He is absolutely culpable;...
And the Cavs are culpable for allowing the trust and the relationship with management to crack.
[On the one hand, on the other hand disingenuous bullshit. NO PLAYER, NOT LUE EITHER, has EVER said the trust issue is with management. It is AMONG PLAYERS (see below).]
...
The Cavs know crisis better than anyone, they've been immersed in it on and off for four years.
But this is a different situation. Everyone can feel it.
They're almost out of time, the chance to change the roster is running out. Even if it's just to change the air in the locker room, the time is running out.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22312359/rockets-easily-blow-cavaliers
"We're not together on both ends. There's a lot of one-on-one on the offense end, maybe because we don't trust each other. And then on the defensive end, it's the same thing. Guys are put on islands and there's no trust. I mean, if you don't trust something ... I don't know. I think it has a lot to do with trust on both ends."-[Isaiah Thomas]
...
LeBron James is healthy, but his effort level has waned over the past several weeks, perhaps hitting rock bottom Saturday.
James failed to get back on defense within the first minute of the game, foreshadowing a night in which he gave significantly less than his normal effort on both ends.
...
"That's [trades] not a question for me. I show up to work every day. I bust my tail every day. I'm the first one to get to the gym and I'm one of the last ones to leave," James said. "I do my part. I control what I can control, and that is what I can control."
[Completely disingenuous from James to say whether the club should make trades is "not a question for me." He has been involved in EVERY personnel move Cleveland has made since he went back.
[And, "I bust my tail every day"! The nerve! He didn't bust his tail Saturday night. Nor in San Antonio, nor in "the past several weeks"!]
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22313534/lebron-james-says-cleveland-cavaliers-taken-national-tv-rest-season
The Isaiah Thomas experiment continues to be an unmitigated disaster for the Cavaliers.
...
...nothing comes easy for the Cavaliers now. This has gone well beyond Cleveland's typical regular-season lulls.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22313984/rockets-point-guard-experiment-going-better-clevelands
...the Cleveland Cavaliers are out of time. It's preposterous to say that in February for a team with a history of turning things around and doing it when they have to. However, they are in a preposterous situation.
They aren't just looking at losing this season, but they are looking at losing LeBron James. If tomorrow were the beginning of free agency, there's a good chance that would be the case.
The Cavs players do not trust each other. It appears as if some of them don't like each other.
[How did THAT happen and whose fault is that? Who got Dwayne Wade to come to Cleveland in September when other players on the team were against it--because it would hurt team chemistry?lebron-james-dwyane-wade-cavs-signing-teammates-against-it-2017-11 In June, Jimmy Butler was told by "several players" on the "Cavaliers" not to come to Cleveland Turn_Around_Dorothy. Who? Why? Still don't know who but Jalen Rose, describing what he saw last night, “No pride, no emotion, no passion, no enthusiasm." said this: "And there’s going to be a lot of talk about players quitting on the organization. Are players quitting on the coach? You know what I see? Players quitting on LeBron. Kyrie Irving — he probably saw this coming.”Players_Quitting_on_LeBron]
Their coach...has failed to motivate his veteran team...Nonetheless, he is not at the center of the storm.
This is all a whirlwind around LeBron James vs. the Cavs front office, which is to say it's about James vs. owner Dan Gilbert.
James...is completely dispirited. Never before in his career has he played like this. Maybe on the occasional midseason evening he has been less than energetic -- in the past, he has called it "chill mode" -- but never like this.
Since the end of the NBA Finals last season, James has watched as Jimmy Butler, [Chris] Paul, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin have been traded. None of them were sent to the Cavs. When the Cavs traded Kyrie Irving, the centerpiece of the deal was a draft pick.
Looking through his eyes, you can understand why he's frustrated.
[He ought to be looking in the mirror.]
You can understand why he sometimes feels like the organization hasn't kept the pedal down.
[No, you can NOT understand that. That is a completely un-understandable feeling! Dan Gilbert has paid out the ASS for the players on this team, James' players, James' team, Gilbert is so deep in luxury tax hell he can't sell the team.]
When he sees Isaiah Thomas struggling, trying so hard to fight through a devastating injury but having to go so slow that he's hindering the Cavs instead of helping them, he wonders why they traded Kyrie Irving at all.
[Gettin' pissed.]
And why they took the deal with the Boston Celtics, even though they had a chance to back out [when Isaiah Thomas failed his Cleveland physical. Thomas was more seriously injured than the Celtics let on and that the "Cavs" believed.]
[One cannot negotiate on one's knees, Windhorst/LBJ, the "Cavs" had NO "CHANCE to back out of the trade" when Irving put his foot down, hell, he allegedly threatened to have knee surgery to keep from going back to Cleveland. The playing relationship with LEBRON JAMES was irreparable, Irving was not going back to Cleveland as long as James was there.]
James must wonder: If the organization won't go all-in to try to keep the best team around him, would he want to be elsewhere? Would he want to waive his no-trade clause?
[Pissed. That is utter bullshit.]
Instead, he stews.
Then the Cavs look back and point out James will not commit to them past this season. Point out they tried to get him another star when coming to the brink of a deal for George last summer but stopped when James declined to commit to the franchise. They point out that they have the highest payroll in the NBA and are paying a hideously painful repeater luxury tax. That the team lost $18 million last season because it spent $25 million on luxury taxes.
...
Instead, they stew.
To those who know him...
[Windhorst. Self-revelatory.]
...it was concerning two weeks ago in San Antonio when James came into a close game in the fourth quarter and seemed to just let the game go. He has come into hundreds of games like that, and if he didn't lead his team to victory, he went to the finish line clawing.
[Uh, YEAH! That is "concerning."]
In the games since, James' defensive effort has further wilted. His aggression has waned. His frustration has extended. And his leadership, which at times has been controversial in its style but never questioned in its intent, has faded.
He is absolutely culpable;...
And the Cavs are culpable for allowing the trust and the relationship with management to crack.
...
The Cavs know crisis better than anyone, they've been immersed in it on and off for four years.
But this is a different situation. Everyone can feel it.
They're almost out of time, the chance to change the roster is running out. Even if it's just to change the air in the locker room, the time is running out.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22312359/rockets-easily-blow-cavaliers
"We're not together on both ends. There's a lot of one-on-one on the offense end, maybe because we don't trust each other. And then on the defensive end, it's the same thing. Guys are put on islands and there's no trust. I mean, if you don't trust something ... I don't know. I think it has a lot to do with trust on both ends."-[Isaiah Thomas]
...
LeBron James is healthy, but his effort level has waned over the past several weeks, perhaps hitting rock bottom Saturday.
James failed to get back on defense within the first minute of the game, foreshadowing a night in which he gave significantly less than his normal effort on both ends.
...
"That's [trades] not a question for me. I show up to work every day. I bust my tail every day. I'm the first one to get to the gym and I'm one of the last ones to leave," James said. "I do my part. I control what I can control, and that is what I can control."
[Completely disingenuous from James to say whether the club should make trades is "not a question for me." He has been involved in EVERY personnel move Cleveland has made since he went back.
[And, "I bust my tail every day"! The nerve! He didn't bust his tail Saturday night. Nor in San Antonio, nor in "the past several weeks"!]
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22313534/lebron-james-says-cleveland-cavaliers-taken-national-tv-rest-season
The Isaiah Thomas experiment continues to be an unmitigated disaster for the Cavaliers.
...
...nothing comes easy for the Cavaliers now. This has gone well beyond Cleveland's typical regular-season lulls.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22313984/rockets-point-guard-experiment-going-better-clevelands
