Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James Paints The Picture Of His Passing Prowess
LeBron James is the most valuable player in the league.
LeBron James is the V8 engine that keeps the Cleveland Cavaliers high-octave offense rolling.
Yes, Kyrie Irving is an offensive savant. Yes, Kevin Love has returned to his Minnesota dominance. Yet, without James the game becomes much more difficult for the Cavs to win. He’s the most valuable player on the team from sheer virtue of his role on the Cavs as the team’s conductor. A role that’s allowing him to perfect his craft as a facilitator.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, James knows his responsibility on the court goes further than passing the ball to players when they’re open. Maximizing his teammates abilities requires James to get the ball to players in the exact way that gives them the best opportunity to score.
“It’s my responsibility to know how my guys want the ball,” as James said.
James went more in-depth, describing what he thinks his responsibilities are as the Cavs preeminent facilitator. He went on to say:
“If they like it with no seams or with the seams. I know that might not make sense — some guys like it different ways. I get the ball right in my hand before I throw it. I know the guys on my team like seams or guys who like the ball high when they catch it. I know guys who like it low or midsection. I know where everyone wants the ball, and I just try to put it there on time and on target. All they have to do is catch and fire. It’s those guys working on their craft that allows me to do that.”
James’ praise of his teammates symbolizes the type of player that he is and why he’s so valuable. While James ability to throw bullets past defenders from across the court or throw full-court bounce passes in transition are amazing feats that demonstrate his precision, strength and vision, his study of his teammates habits is what makes him the Cavs’ most valuable player.
It’s why the Cleveland Cavaliers are 4-16 in games where James doesn’t play.
James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul are deserving of MVP votes, but none are tasked with the expectations James has to live up to. In the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors are the offensive juggernaut. In the Eastern Conference, where James has led his team’s to six straight NBA Finals, James’ team is expected to be the best in the conference night-in and night-out. Even during DeMar Derozan‘s outrageous scoring binge to start the season, the Cavs were able to take down the Toronto Raptors twice. The Sacramento Kings, who seem to have the Raptors number, were the only other team to accomplish that feat.
In addition, while Westbrook and Harden have displayed all-around offensive games, they haven’t had the type of defensive impact that James has either. James isn’t playing Defensive Player of the Year-caliber defense, however, he’s getting the job done and coming up with timely plays. Westbrook and Harden, though two of the best players in the world, aren’t notorious for making the cerebral play when it matters. That’s why Westbrook has games when he’s wildly inefficient. It’s also why Westbrook is averaging 5.5 turnovers per game and Harden is averaging 5.9 turnovers per game.
Paul has played an all-around game and has been an even bigger defensive presence than James. Yet, Paul has the benefit of having Doc Rivers on the sidelines.
Doc won a championship as a coach with the Boston Celtics in 2010. He’s also responsible for the Clippers player-personnel decisions and as evidenced by the players in the second-unit, Doc has a good eye for talent. While the Clippers bench unit of Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers and Marreese Speights combine for 27.9 points per game, the Cavs best three second-unit players combine to average 22.1 points per game. The Cavs biggest bench weapon, Channing Frye averages 11.3 points per game but has missed five of the team’s 16 games. Five games doesn’t seem like a lot but that’s more than half of the second unit’s production and nearly a third of the team’s total contests. None of the Clippers “Little Three” has missed a game this season.
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Furthermore, while Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue is no stranger to the NBA as an 11-year veteran, this is just his first full season as a NBA head coach. This isn’t Doc Rivers’ eighteenth go-around. Some would say that experience is the best teacher. If that’s the case, you can bet your bottom dollar that Doc knows a lot more about being a head coach in the NBA than Tyronn Lue does and can teach his team more because of it too. That’s not a slight on Lue’s abilities because he and coaches like the Boston Celtics’ Brad Stevens show that young coaches with brilliant minds should be given a chance regardless of their age. The difference between what Doc knows and Lue knows is a fact, and in fact, Lue openly seeks out Doc, his mentor, for advice.
James, unlike Westbrook, Harden and Paul is leading another charge to the NBA Finals with the weight of a city’s hopes on his shoulders. In many ways, James is the mayor of Cleveland. He inspires Ohio’s marquee sports teams. Hillary Clinton felt that James social, civic and political awareness and fame would help her on her campaign trail as she stopped through Ohio. He donated millions in scholarship funds to the University of Akron. On a team full of aging specialists, young and unproven perimeter players and two superstar players who haven’t learned how to consistently win by themselves yet, James has the Cleveland Cavaliers believing they’re destined to reach the NBA Finals simply because he’s on the team. He has the city believing that they can beat a supercharged Golden State Warriors team that went to two straight NBA Finals and then signed Kevin Durant.
That’s more than what Harden can say in Houston, Westbrook can say in Oklahoma City or Paul can say in Los Angeles. Their teams might be that confident but you never hear about it from the locker room or the residents of those cities. As amazing as those three have played to start the season, they still haven’t inspired the level of confidence that James generates for his team.
Again, James study of how he can maximize his teammates abilities serves as a microcosm of James’ role in Cleveland. He knows what the city needs, what the state needs. He knows how to deliver, when to deliver and what to deliver. He knows the messages that his city needs to hear to rally the troops. In every way, Cleveland is better because of James being in it. He’s helping the city maximize it’s abilities.
Even President Obama acknowledged the city’s transformation. There’s no bigger praise for James’ passing prowess than that.
As James breaks record after record and leads his team to victory after victory, his team will triumph in the face of adversity largely because of a belief in themselves and a belief in him. Conversely, the team triumph because of James’ belief in them. What is truly more valuable, on or off-the-court, than that? Who is a more valuable player, on or off-the-court, than him?
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Do you think LeBron James is the most valuable player in the league? If not, who had your early vote? Let us know in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.