When you have the best player on the planet on your roster, it comes with the ability to compete for championships. In Cavaliers GM David Griffin’s case, having LeBron James comes with the responsibility of surrounding him with the necessary pieces to win a championship every year. It may be a luxury to have arguably the greatest ever player, but also an obligation to maximize his championship window.
For Griffin, the summer of 2014 was both an enthralling one, and frightening one, as he told The Vertical via Yahoo Sports.
“I had about eight seconds of bliss and then several days of sheer terror,” Griffin told The Vertical of James’ arrival in the summer of 2014, “because it was, ‘Oh, thank God, he’s coming,’ to ‘Oh, my God, how do we win a championship?”
James is on a laser focused mission of collecting as many rings as he can before his playing days are done, which will continue to aid his case for the greatest player to ever step on the NBA hardwood.
In his hopes of extending his streak of finals appearances, James has been at the heart of all off-season and acquisitions for the Cavs. But despite Griffin and the front office consulting James, Griffin doesn’t like the tag that his small forward is widely known as the Cavs GM and the one who calls all the shots.
“I take offense to it on [James’] behalf at times,” Griffin told The Vertical. “He doesn’t like that image. I don’t think he wants that image. He wants to lead his troops. He wants to be a player. He wants to lead the guys from within. He never tried to do any more than that. I think for him, it’s almost an unfair characterization of him, that he’s some kind of overlord. That’s not at all what he does.”
Despite the outside noise, Griffin is confident in the roster he has assembled thus far.
“We like our group. We think we’ve got a group that belongs together, that fits together,” Griffin told The Vertical. “But if we can improve and continue to further the cause, then we will. We’ve got that same small window to capitalize in and we’re going to do what we need to, when we can.”
Griffin has never received the credit he deserves, as he has made some superb moves in helping the Cavs achieve their ultimate goal of an NBA championship last June. The recent addition of sharpshooter Kyle Korver is just another example of his excellence roster management skills.
Griffin knows the time is now, and he has the best player in the world at his disposal that he must maximize right now.
“I’ve said this several times since, but you’re basically charged with the legacy of Babe Ruth, and it’s our responsibility to allow that legacy to grow and evolve,” Griffin told The Vertical. “So it’s almost like a sacred trust that the kid gives you. He’s so good, in his own right, by himself, that he sort of mandates you have to be a title contender just by his presence alone … and if you don’t capitalize on the years he has left, then shame on us.”
Look for Griffin and the Cavaliers to continue to surround the kid from Akron with the necessary pieces in order to compete for a championship within the MVP caliber seasons the king still has left.
