It goes without saying this season has been a strange one for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tabbed by many as the favorites to win a championship, the team has instead been mired in drama.
Yet another trade deadline is filled with rumors about a Kevin Love deal, head coach David Blatt getting fired despite the Cavs being in first place and Stephen A. Smith claiming Kyrie Irving is unhappy. These are just a few of the unnecessary headlines bogging down a team hoping to bring the city of Cleveland its first title since 1964.
Only a handful of games remain before the playoffs begin, and the hope is the Cavs are done with needless distractions. The last thing the team needs is another off-the-court disturbance to throw things through a loop.
Apparently, LeBron James doesn’t feel this is the case. All it took from him was a tweet and a very specific choice in workout partner to stir up even more drama for Cavs fans.
First, James took to Twitter yesterday to give a very cryptic statement, seemingly calling someone out for making a mistake.
It’s ok to know you’ve made a mistake. Cause we all do at times. Just be ready to live with whatever that comes with it and be with…..
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 1, 2016
Naturally, people began wondering just who James was referring to? Was it Irving? Was it Love? Was it himself?
After this, James decided to take advantage of the three days off Cleveland has between games and head down to Miami. There, a video was posted of he and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade working out together. Naturally, any time James and Wade are seen in the same place, Cavs fans begin panicking about another Cleveland exodus.
So, despite the fact the team was given some off time to refocus on the task at hand, James’ tweet and trip have muddied the water a bit.
Let me start with this – I’m not going to overreact to what James tweeted or who he works out with. I don’t intend on reading too far into anything, and I do not think this is an unsubtle message to Cleveland fans that once again, the team’s best player is contemplating leaving. This is by no means an attempt at click bait.
My problem, though, is that this team cannot afford more off-court drama.
To be fair, nothing James has done is illegal or even remotely crazy. At the same time, one thing he has proven during his time in the NBA is he never does anything without reason. Every move he makes, both on the court and off it, is calculated.
With that in mind, James clearly had to know sending off some cryptic tweet would set off a small firestorm in the media. He had to know people would find it curious for him to leave his teammates and workout with Wade for a couple days.
My question, then, is why would he know this and follow through, especially considering how fragile this team appears right now?
If you think this is all a non-story, I completely get that. At the same time, Google ‘LeBron James’ and you’ll see the first three references are either to his Twitter activity or his trip to Miami.
The problem is questions about these seemingly trivial actions are now going to come into the locker room. James will likely shrug off the tweet if (when) it’s brought up to him by the media, saying it’s nothing and acting surprised he’s even being asked about it. Again, though, this is someone who never does anything without thinking it through. We saw the same thing last year with a similarly veiled tweet towards Love.
All I’m saying is this team is 23 games away from the playoffs, and has very apparent issues needing to be addressed. Some believe James should’ve stuck around in Cleveland with his teammates to take these off days as an opportunity to get problems taken care of.
I think we all know the last thing the Cavs need are more distractions.
