Trouble Already Brewing In Cleveland As LeBron James, Cavaliers Off To 1-3 Start In The 2014-2015 NBA Season

Building superteams is always a good idea on paper— until the first chance that same powerhouse squad struggles and everyone is exposed to the fact that big names alone isn’t enough to make everything work inside the court. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling big time with a 1 win and 3 losses record to start the 2014-2015 NBA Season and already the experts are speculating on what could be the reason why a team featuring stars James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving is having a hard time getting the Ws in the early part of the year.

Three NBA insiders— known for their aggressive and often controversial takes on NBA issues— have similar opinions on the current status of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the implications on the future of the player and franchise.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN.COM is claiming that LeBron’s “passive-aggressive” stance, most recently in losses to the Portland Trail Blazers, is all about sending a message to his teammates, particularly, the young guns Irving and Dion Waiters, both of whom are known volume shooters/scorers in the early part of their NBA career.

“This is a conscious decision on how he plans to operate in a passive-aggressive mission to yank some teammates toward his way of thinking. Let some of them fail at their way so they will be open to new ideas, is what it looks and sounds like,” Windhorst stated in his ESPN article on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless in their show, First Take also on ESPN had similar thoughts on the matter.

“What went on last night [game vs. Portland] was one of two things in my view. Either, number one, this was the first step of LeBron James’ grand plan to break down his two young guards Kyrie [Irving] and Dion Waiters to let them fail on their own and then begin, slowly but surely, build them back up to what he hopes to be a championship team” Bayless shared. Bayless added a second point that James and Irving are going to clash, a point he also stated in the preseason. “Kyrie and LeBron James are going to clash.”

Smith agreed with his first point emphasising that LeBron is setting the stage early and his body language and recent comments proved that. Smith also admitted that Irving would have to make adjustments in his game to accommodate what LeBron James brings to the court.

“You are not going to win basketball games if you are shooting more than him [LeBron James]… Now obviously you can still find a way to get your 11 and 17 shots, respectively but it can’t be at the expense of LeBron James getting his. Otherwise, you are not playing winning basketball. It’s just that simple.

For the record, here are the numbers of field shots— made and attempted— by James, Irving and Waiters in their first four games of the season:

Against New York Knicks (Loss, 95-90):

James - 5/15

Irving - 8/15

Waiters - 4/9

Against Chicago Bulls (Win, 114-108 OT)

James - 14/30

Irving - 6/17

Waiters - 3/10

Against Portland Trail Blazers (Loss, 101-82)

James - 4/12

Irving - 3/17

Waiters - 3/11

Against Utah Jazz (Loss, 102-100 OT)

James - 8/18

Irving - 12/23

Waiters - 1/4

Through the first four games, LeBron James has averaged 18.8 attempts per game, Irving 18.0 attempts per game and Waiters 8.0 attempts per game. Curiously, the Cavaliers are also the last in the league in total team assists per game at 16.0 dimes per outing.

Does Windhorst, Smith and Bayless have a point?