LeBron James On Cavs’ Slow Start: ‘I Stink, I’m Not Doing My Job’
It’s been a disappointing start to the 2014-2015 NBA season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Cavs superstar LeBron James has no problem taking all of the blame for Cleveland’s early season struggles.
“We got a four-game losing streak, so I stink,” James said after shootaround Monday prior to the Cavs’ game against the Orlando Magic. “I’m not doing my job. I got to do a better job, and it will help our team.”
Through the first 12 games of this season, James is averaging the the fewest points (24.7) on the lowest shooting percentage (.467) since his rookie season in 2003-2004. Furthermore, James is off to the worst start of his NBA career through 12 games since the very same season, when the James’ Cavs started off 4-8.
James’ all-star teammate Kevin Love weighed in on the Cavs’ early struggles this season, and talked about the team’s mentality heading into today’s game with the Orlando Magic.
“I think it’s a chance for us to pick ourselves back up, and tonight is a game that we must win,” Love said.
LeBron, who called his Cavaliers team fragile following their 110-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday, reiterated those feelings during today’s shootaround.
“For me, being the leader of the team, if I start hanging my head low, then I think it’s going to go to everyone else,” James said. “They look up to me. They look to me to make a difference, and I got to stay positive even throughout the rough times. Like I said before, this is not the darkest point that we’ll see this year. I’ve seen very dark, and this is very light to me.”
LeBron then went on to talk about his uncertainty of how the Cavs will perform in the NBA playoffs, and if he thinks the Cavs can win the eastern conference and make it to the NBA finals.
“I’m just saying this is not the biggest adversity point that we’ll hit,” James said. “Obviously, do I think that we’re going to get to the Finals? I don’t know what the future holds. But from my perspective, it’s not as bad as it may seem. That basically was the context of the comment.”
Even during the Cavs’ off day on Sunday, LeBron just couldn’t relax and get past the Cavaliers disappointing start to the 2013-14 NBA season.
“I can’t,” James said. “I don’t like to forget about it. That’s not the makeup of who I am. I’m not one guy to just throw away things that go on. I got an opportunity to spend some time with my family, watch some football — the Browns won, Cowboys won, so I had a really, really good Sunday. But I watched some basketball last night, too, so my mind was back in the flow of things.”
Lastly, LeBron talked about the challenge that he knew he would face coming back to Cleveland, and said that so far, this has been the biggest challenge of his NBA career.
“It’s something that I was ready for,” James said. “I knew that it was going to be my biggest challenge of my career thus far, so I accept the challenge, and when we lose, I take full responsibility. When we win, the team wins. That’s what it’s about.”
The Cavs will look to snap their four game skid when they take on the Orlando Magic tonight at 7 p.m. eastern time, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
[Image via Jason Miller / Getty Images]
