The Cleveland Cavaliers are an utter mystery and they are not inspiring much support as they seemingly struggle in the final stretch of the season. The Cavaliers have the best record in the Eastern Conference and the third-best record in the NBA, yet LeBron James thinks he needs to "do more."
Most of these issues start with James, who said he wanted to pare down his Twitter feed, then joined Snapchat. Around the time of an interview in which he said he wants to play at least one season with some of his close friends, he was seen chatting up Dwyane Wade at halftime of a dismal loss to the Miami Heat.
The Cavaliers lost to the Brooklyn Nets, who are 20-51 on the season, on the road and James did not even try to hide his frustration. The loss to the Heat led Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue to meet with him privately to discuss his behavior. James responded by posting a triple-double and back-to-back wins at home, but then they went to Brooklyn.
"I just need to do more," James said last night. "Just need to do more, and I have been able to do that, except for tonight, for the most part."
James was 13-16 from the field that game and scored 30 points, but still the Cavaliers trailed for most of the game and mustered just 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers reportedly told James all they wanted was for him to focus on basketball and that headlines about his social media activity were distractions.
But following the loss in Brooklyn, the headlines are no longer just about what James is doing in his downtime, but how the Cavaliers' dysfunction has been manifesting itself. Take a look at these column headers:
"Cavaliers' problems run deeper than LeBron's cryptic tweets" - USA Today
"Why LeBron James' Cavaliers homecoming has taken a wrong turn" - CBS Sports
"A loss in Brooklyn proves the Cavaliers are still a mess" - Washington Post
"LeBron James stars in a social media drama of his own making" - ESPN
With 10 games to go, the Cavaliers play mostly teams they have a season series advantage against, and are likely to hold onto their Eastern Conference lead. At their best, they even play well enough on the court to get back to the Finals.
"We have a great opportunity to do something special or at least compete for something special," James said. "I am fortunate that I am very healthy, as healthy as I have been in a long time, and I feel great and I am trying to do things to help us win."
