The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
LeBron sounding like he’s moving on
With Warriors in command of NBA Finals, talk turns to offseason
If you can’t beat ’em, and you can’t join ’em, then the only other alternative for LeBron James might be to join another team.
James met with the media on June 7 at Quicken Loans Arena and, at the end of a series of questions about the challenge facing the Cavaliers on June 8 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, was asked about teams assembling superstars to knock off the reigning champions.
The Golden State Warriors are defending NBA champions and, with a 3-0 lead on the Cavs in the Finals this year, are on the verge of repeating. James sounded as though he wants to head elsewhere next season to join a team that can dethrone the Warriors, just as he did in 2010 when he left the Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat to knock off the Boston Celtics.
“My first stint here, I didn’t have the talent to compete vs. the best teams in the NBA, let alone just Boston,” James said. “Not only do you have to have the talent; you have to have the minds as well. I knew my talent level in Cleveland couldn’t succeed getting past the Bostons, getting past the San Antonios of the League.”
James united with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami and won two championships in four years. Bosh played seven seasons in Toronto before heading to Miami the same year James did.
James, 33, can become a free agent on July 1. If he repeats what he did in 2010 with the Cavaliers and 2014 with Miami, he won’t announce his plans until around July 10.
James said he returned to the Cavaliers in 2014 in part because Kyrie Irving was with them. He saw potential for a championship. Then the Cavs beat the Warriors in the 2016 Finals and Golden State responded by signing Kevin Durant.
The Warriors beat the Cavaliers for the 2017 championship and Durant was named Finals MVP. Durant could be MVP again if Golden State knocks off the Cavs.
“We came back from 3-1
(in 2016) and beat them, but that was probably the best team I ever played against to go 73-9, and then you add one of the best players (Durant) the NBA has ever seen,” James said. “So now everyone is trying to figure that out.
“How do you put together a group of talent, but also a group of minds as well, to be able to compete against Golden State and compete for a championship? That’s what team presidents, GMs and certain players (want to do). Not every player. It’s
sad to say, but not every player wants to compete for a championship and be in a position where every possession is pressure.”
This is the ninth time, and eighth straight time, James has been on a team playing in the NBA Finals. But unless the Cavaliers beat the Warriors four straight times, he will be 3-6 in the Finals.
“Obviously, from a talent perspective, if you’re looking at Golden State from their top five best players to our top five players, you would
say they’re stacked better than us,” James said. “We have a lot of talent as well. We’ve been in a position where we could win two out of these three games (Games 1 and 2).
“So what do we have to do? Do we have to make more shots? Is it we have to have our minds into it a little bit more? Is it if there’s a ball on the ground we can’t reach for it but you’ve got to dive for it?
“The room for error is slim to none. When you make mistakes they make you pay, because they’re already more talented than you are but they also have the minds behind it, too, and they also have the championship DNA.”
A sweep by the Warriors, or even Golden State winning in five games, might be all James needs to convince him that championship DNA isn’t on the current Cavaliers roster.