The Cleveland Cavaliers are still looking to recover from a brutal month of January that saw the defending champions put up a sub .500 record of 7-8. While the team is missing J.R. Smith to injury, no one expected the drop off to be anywhere near as severe as it’s shown to be.
With LeBron James doing everything he can to get his team back on track, his recent request for another playmaker should certainly be taken seriously and the Cavs appear to know this. On Wednesday, the club held a free-agent workout entertaining free agent guards such as Kirk Hinrich, Jordan Farmar, Mario Chalmers, and even Lance Stephenson.
As we all know dating back to the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals and the bizarre ear-blowing incident, James and Stephenson aren’t exactly the best of buddies. When asked about his take on the Cavaliers workout, James recognized his history with most of them. Following from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
Cleveland welcomed free-agent guards Mario Chalmers, Kirk Hinrich and Jordan Farmar, as well as forward Lance Stephenson, for a workout Wednesday afternoon.
“I got a history with all those guys except Jordan,” James said after shootaround Wednesday, as the Cavs prepared for their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I got a history with Lance too, obviously. I got a history versus Kirk. I played him in a lot of playoff series. And I got a history with Rio [Chalmers]. … At the end of the day, Rio is recovering from his Achilles tear. I hope he’s been doing everything he needs to do just to get back on the floor. He loves to play the game.
“I’m a supporter of what this franchise wants to do, no matter what it’s doing. But my focus right now is to get our guys playing championship-level basketball.”
When asked specifically what he would think about the addition of his previous “rival” in Lance Stephenson, James decided to take the high road as per usual:
“I just want to win, man,” James said. “That’s all that matters to me. I got no personal problems with nobody.”
With the Cavs playing mediocre basketball during this recent stretch, LeBron’s laser focus is a necessity. If we do end up seeing Lance and LeBron playing side by side here in the near future, don’t expect anything but business from James and company.
