In case you missed it Lebron James, the best
basketball player in the world, left the NBA's second best team to join the
Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the NBA’s worst teams. On the Cavaliers is one of
the most exciting young players in the League, one Kyrie Irving. Irving plays
point guard, a high profile position because point guards often have the ball
in their hands. Lebron James technically is a small forward but he has played
just about every position known to basketball. James is a dynamic playmaker and
the on-court pressure will be for him to play a sort of point-forward and take on
the responsibilities of the point guard by having the ball in his hands the
majority of the time. If he wants to win over his young all-star teammate and
lead his team to maximizing their potential, he may be better off releasing
some of the limelight he just learned to embrace and empowering Irving to
flourish.
When James first came into the League with the Cavaliers, He
was criticized for shying away from the big moment even though he led a team of
nobodies to the NBA finals. Many criticized his decision to sign with Miami as
hiding in the shadow of proven champion Dwayne Wade. The criticism may have
been accurate, but during his four years in Miami James matured enough to become
the team leader and go-to player that critics had challenged him to become. His
second NBA Title run was in part the result of his maturity and the subsequent
Finals loss to the Spurs the next year showed how much his talented team had
come to depend on him as a player and as a leader. When he decided to leave
Miami this summer there were no questions about whether or not he could lead a
team to a championship.
In his return to Cleveland, the challenge facing
Lebron James is not to become the alpha dog that every professional athlete is
told they need to be. Instead the challenge is to use his power to allow his
young team to flourish. Kyrie Irving and recent number one overall draft pick
Andrew Wiggins top the list of young Cavaliers with potential. They are a young
team in need of a veteran leader to help them mature both on and off the court.
The maturing process, and it is a continual process, always means bumps in the
road that allow character to develop. In the instant gratification world of
professional sports James will be tempted to try to do everything for his team
to make them a contender right away. He may spend a lot of energy and
frustration dragging his teammates to greatness. If James succumbs to the
pressures of the NBA culture he will burn out very quickly. Furthermore, he
will not be using his gifts to their maximum potential.
James is one of the elite playmakers in the NBA. He is
dangerous on the offensive end of the floor more because of his ability to set
up his teammates than through his individual scoring prowess. Furthermore,
James does not need the ball in his hands for very long to set up his
teammates. His ability to create for his teammates without dominating possession
could allow Kyrie Irving, one of the League’s premier ball-handlers, to work in
the area of his strength as a point guard while relieving the burden Irving has
felt as the only playmaker on the team. James has the opportunity to develop some
of the brightest young talents in the game by drawing on-court defensive
pressure and setting up his teammates to play their game. He will need to
absorb the off court pressure to take over his new team by the horns if he
wants to be the leader that allows his team to flourish.
