LeBron James Willing to Come Off the Bench
The Cleveland Cavaliers own the league’s longest current winning streak at 11 games. Superstar shooting forward LeBron James has said he would be willing to do anything it takes to keep the success going for the Cavaliers. That includes not starting and coming off the bench if it will help the team.
James said it was all about the whole team and for him the leader on the team, it does not matter what has to be done. Whatever the team needs to win, James said he would do. He would come off the bench if it made the team better.
James, following the Cavaliers practice on Wednesday preparing for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, said it is about how the team fits together, how the five guys that are playing fit together and how those on the bench help those playing.
The comments from James come only a few days after the individual struggles of Kevin Love came into focus after he scored a season low of five points after missing 6 of 7 shots in Monday’s win over Philadelphia. Love did not take another shot after the first quarter.
The offer by James to come off the Cavs bench was only figurative, but it illustrated the lengths the All-Star is willing to go to keep Cleveland in the thick of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
The veteran of 12 NBA seasons has started in 881 of his 882 career games. The one time he did not start, but came off the bench was back in December of 2007 in a win at home over Indiana. He had missed five consecutive games for a finger problem and was returning to action.
David Blatt the Cleveland head coach would not even consider James as a sixth man. Blatt said James was doing very well as a starter and always has.
Blatt called LeBron a champion. He added that James is not just a superstar but also a great teammate and wants his teammates to succeed and help bring the city of Cleveland an NBA title.
The only negative at this point in time for Cleveland is the play on offense of Love. In 10 games during a recent winning streak for the Cavs, Love is averaging only 13.9 points per game on 37% shooting.
However, coach Blatt downplayed the struggles of Love pointing out what he does to help the overall team cause. Love has continued to rebound at a high rate, including 15 on Monday night when he scored just 5. On the season, Love is averaging 16.9 points per game and 10.5 rebounds.
