LeBron James is not a fool. Despite what you all may think, he’s quite possibly one of the smartest minds in the NBA on and possibly off the court. LeBron knows when to rest, when to ramp it up, play mind games and even knows when to make decisions to come back home to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
When James made the move to return in 2014, it immediately made the Cavs the top contender in the Eastern Conference. The fact still remained, if you wanted to win an NBA championship, you have to go through LeBron James. And it appears teams started to recognize this and they have started to bring talent together to compete with The King. Unfortunately for them, LeBron already knows what teams have to do to compete with his squad.
LeBron James spoke to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com and said the following.
“I know teams switch and pick up new coaches or new players, and their whole goal is kind of they want to beat me,” James told cleveland.com, in a candid discussion about the upcoming year and his place in the sport at age 31, in this his 14th season. “It’s never just about me, but I always hear them saying, ‘We gotta beat LeBron.’ It’s not just me on the court, but I understand that teams get together in this conference and across the league to try to beat me.”
“I think every team is put together for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to try and win a championship,” he said. “That’s what Golden State wants to do. For me, I’m the same way. I don’t like being stagnant, and we’ve got great guys in here, but I want to continue to get better in this league each and every year and have the opportunity to win a championship. That’s what it comes down to.”
In summary, James’ boulevard of broken teams is long and distinguished. It’s a road on which he intends to remain, having experienced what it’s like to have to move cities to beat the best.
“Yeah, but I was just trying to get Boston,” James said. “They’re all trying to get me.”
No matter if it’s a team in the east or west, these teams have to prove it. It’s LeBron’s NBA right now and until someone knocks him off his throne, he will continue to rule the land. What remains to be seen is which team will challenge him. The “superteam” New York Knicks, Boston Celtics with Al Horford, Golden State Warriors now with Kevin Durant, Indiana Pacers new look offense and Toronto Raptors with their All-Star backcourt might all come close but they need to actually make it happen and give LeBron a real challenge.
