What happened to the Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers? Best record in the NBA for the past two years, and then ultimate chokers in the NBA playoffs. Are they the “San Jose Sharks” of the NBA?…yeah ok, that was brutal.
But really what happened to the team? Why couldn’t they get by Orlando last year and Boston this year? Is it fair that Lebron James is taking all the scrutiny for the failures of the Cavs?
Before I start, I really dont have a favorite team or player in the NBA, though I would say that I’m more inclined to root for the LA Lakers every year. I feel that out of all the sports, I follow the NBA with the most objective point of view that I can possibly take, and I’m not really biased for or against any particular player or team.
That said, while Lebron James is arguably the best player in the league, I feel I have to blame the management and ownership for failing to give Lebron a decent team to compete with.
Take a look at some players and their recent championship fortunes.
1. Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics – For the longest time, Paul Pierce was the lone man in Boston and was surrounded by terrible talent. As good as he was, the Boston Celtics were TERRIBLE. What did Danny Ainge do? He then brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two perenially all stars, and they won the championship the very next year.
2. Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers – Kobe Bryant has 4 titles, but three of those titles came early on in his career with Shaquille Oneal. As good as Kobe was in his early years, this was Oneal’s team, and Oneal was the most important and best player on the team. When Shaq left for Miami, the Lakers went into a downspin. They had players like Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, and a young Andrew Bynum. As GREAT as Kobe was (and is), you just can’t win with a team like these players. Finally, Bryant made some threats and the Lakers made a move for Pau Gasol, again arguable the best Power Forward in the world. They made the NBA Finals that year, losing to Boston (see above), but after a full year of playing together, the Lakers finally won the title in 2009.
3. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls – Like Lebron James, Michael Jordan was a beast when he arrived in the NBA. However, for the first 7 years of his career, he had to carry the team on his back. His teams did well, but always came up short in the playoffs, and never won a championship. He even won a MVP award during this time as well. But management surrounded Jordan with great talent. They drafted Scottie Pippen, and surrounded Jordan with great talent like Horace Grant, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman. With these additions, Jordan was finally able to win 6 championships in the 1990s.
4. San Antonio Spurs – Champions in 2003, 2005, and 2007 had an amazing trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili with great role players such as Bruce Bowen and Robert Horry.
What’s my point?
My point is that a superstar can’t win a title all by himself. He needs a team that can play with him. He needs a team with a deep bench.
I’m sorry, but the Cleveland Cavs are not that team. Who was their starting 4 other than Lebron in the playoffs?
Mo Williams – 1 time All-Star in 2009, but that’s because he made it as an alternate because of injuries. He’s a serviceable point guard…in no way a star. I can probably name at least 6-7 pgs better than him
Anthony Parker – He was great in the Euroleague, but really shouldn’t be a starting SG on a team with championship aspirations. Never been an allstar in the NBA
Shaquille O’Neal – Probably goes down as one of the best Centers in NBA history, but is at least 3-4 years past his prime. While he’s still effective, he’s no way near the player he used to be.
Antwan Jamison – Two time allstar, good scorer. can’t play defense. inconsistent. dont know what you’re going to get.
That’s just the starting 4 other than Lebron. Don’t even get me started on the bench: Varejao, Ilgasuskas, West, Moon? yeah…not that good.
This just wasn’t a good team. Their starting 4 other than Lebron James was suspect and their bench just wasnt that good.
But then you might throw the “they had the best record in the NBA the past two season” argument at me. Sure, but out of their 21 losses this year, 16 of them came against playoff teams. Good teams are SUPPOSED to beat the bad teams. How you play against the great teams is what matters.
Also, the regular season is completely different than the postseason. It’s a whole new ball game. Great teams elevate their game to a whole new level. There was so much uncertainty about the Boston Celtics coming into the playoffs. The “Big 3” just weren’t playing well together at the end of the season. They looked tired and out of sync. Come playoff time though, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen turned it on and stunned pretty much everyone. They brought their game to a whole new level.
The Cavs as a whole didnt elevate their game. Actually, only one player did…Shaq. The best center in history played actually a pretty good series against the Celtics. He’s the only one that knows that it takes to win, and he really didnt disappoint.
Which brings me to the next obvious question? Is Lebron staying in Cleveland next year?
It depends. He has to be realistic and realize that he can not win a championship with this team. If ownership shows a commitment to bring in an actual STAR, and some good role players to fill out the bench, I think Lebron stays. Else he’s gone.
But while a lot of the blame should rest on the shoulders of management, I do believe Lebron needs to shoulder a lot of the responsibility as well. He still has a ton to learn about maturity, focus, and how to actually lead a team…which I dont want to get into now, but will save for a future post. He is still miles behind Kobe, Duncan, Nash, and the Big 3 in Boston in terms of how to be a leader.
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