In his 15th season, Cleveland Cavaliers star forward LeBron James has put together an illustrious career that has seen him achieve nearly every major individual feat along the way.
At the same time, head coach Tyronn Lue has still been able to find ways of keeping him motivated on the court, according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal.
“I told him at halftime, ‘You messing around,’ ” Lue said after a 119-109 triumph at Quicken Loans Arena. “But I didn’t say messing around.”
James shrugged his shoulders, smirked, and paused for a moment. Then he thought back to a poor series of plays after he missed a spectacular fastbreak dunk with 3:39 left in the first quarter. After that, coincidence or not, the Cavs lost their focus.
“Whatever T-Lue say goes, so, you know, he knows how to challenge me sometimes,” James said.
The fact that Lue is still able to push the buttons of James even at this point in his career could be huge in helping the Cavs into reaching a fourth straight NBA Finals appearance this season. This was evident against the Brooklyn Nets as he notched 23 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, which included 18 straight in the period.
Although the Cavs have plenty of offensive firepower, LeBron James must continue to be the head of the snake in order for them to stay on right track. On top of that, they are playing without two key pieces of the puzzles with Isaiah Thomas still recovering from his hip injury and Derrick Rose contemplating retirement due to nagging injuries.
LeBron James has put together another strong start to the season, currently ranking third in the league in scoring on 28.6 points on a career-high 58.5 percent shooting from the field with 8.3 assists, and 7.3 assists per contest.