Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James has logged heavy minutes over the course of his career in the NBA, as most hoops fans know. However, there is one coach who thinks LeBron has handled the workload with class: New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry.
Coach Gentry and his Pelicans managed to take a 2-0 series lead over the Portland Trail Blazers with a 111-102 victory on Tuesday night. Four Pelicans played 38 minutes or more, including Anthony Davis (40), Rajon Rondo (39), Nikola Mirotic (39), and Jrue Holliday (38). When asked about the high rate of minutes his players logged in Tuesday’s game, coach Gentry conjured up a reference to LeBron James.
“There’s a guy in Cleveland who’s about 65 years old and plays heavy minutes every night,” coach Gentry told Sean Highkin during post-game media availability.
https://twitter.com/highkin/status/986472780886458368
James, now 33 years of age, played in all 82 regular season games for the first time in his career, averaging 27.5 points (third in NBA) on 54.2 percent shooting from the field (36.7 percent from beyond the arc), 9.1 assists, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and just under one block (0.9) in 36.9 minutes per game.
Currently, the Cavs are trailing the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, 1-0.
James, who has logged 44,298 regular season minutes and 9,171 postseason minutes over the course of his career racked up 44 minutes in Sunday’s Game 1 loss. However, the King did record a triple-double in doing so (24 points on 7-of-17 shooting, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, one steal, and one block).
James and the Cavs will be back in action on Wednesday night, as they’re scheduled to host the Indiana Pacers for Game 2. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. EST with TNT, FOX Sports Ohio, and FOX Sports Indiana having live broadcast coverage.
After scoring just two points in the first quarter of Game 1, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue has asked James to be more aggressive at the start of Game 2. Let’s see if the Akron Hammer responds.