NBA teams traditionally play one-on-one man defense with helpers and defensive rotations ready in case of a breakdown. While a breakdown may not be one player’s fault specifically, LeBron James is taking the blame for his own mistake that cost his teammate his NBA season. One break one the basketball court unfortunately and unluckily resulted in an actual broken bone.
James was defending guard Okaro White of the Miami Heat, who came across the lane and grabbed the offensive rebound on a missed shot attempt. Instead of following him, James opted to stay on the lower left block. White kicked the ball out, and once the Heat moved it around, he caught it in the corner open enough to take a jumpshot. Seeing that he was open, the Cavs’ newest acquisition Andrew Bogut came out to contest. Instead of taking the jumper, White decided to try and drive by Bogut. The two collided and fell to the floor. White got up to continue play. Bogut did not.
“That’s what makes it tough,” James said after the game. “That was my guy.”
Sure, the player who ended up colliding with Bogut was James’ man, but LeBron can’t really blame himself for the freak injury. What’s worse is that James apparently heard the crack of Bogut’s tibia when it initially happened and knew it was bad.
“As soon as the collision happened, I heard it break. And when I went over to him and he said (it was broken), I already knew it. I heard it crack. It took the air out of the whole building.”
“It’s very deflating,” James said. “It’s a tough moment. We all were excited about the acquisition, you know, bring him in here. Hopefully we can hope for the best with the MRI or whatever the case may be, but it’s a tough one. Not only obviously for him, first of all, but then for our ball club.”
The Cavs will now move on without Bogut, whose 2016-17 season with the Cavaliers finishes after just 58 seconds of action.
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