LeBron James On Cleveland Cavaliers Season: 'This is Kyrie's Show'
The King of basketball is becoming a master of building the confidence of his teammates. LeBron James is deferring to his young all-star point guard when he addressed media on Friday to discuss the varied roles of the current roster and the outlook of the upcoming NBA season. James clarified that the upcoming season will be billed as "the Kyrie Irving show," after several questions veered into the direction on the role of the three superstars, James, Irving and Kevin Love, in the new system of the Cavaliers.
Irving was reverent of the praises of the two-time NBA champion and expounded that they would not have to adjust much but just come in and do their roles. According to Cleveland.com, Irving insisted Sunday that he has just to be himself to contribute both on offence and defence in European coach David Blatt's system.
"I don't think (James) could've said it any better, honestly," Irving said. "You guys were going to make what you wanted out of that, but for us it's just about making plays. All of us have the ability to make plays out there and I think our offence will be designed around that."
The talented ball handler is coming off a positive summer. Despite missing out for the third straight year on the playoffs, Irving and the Cavs quickly solidified their relationship by inking a $80 million extension spread over four years. Then Irving got the news of his life July when the prodigal son, James, decided to revive Ohio basketball and return to his roots. August was another Christmas present with Kevin Love joining the fold in exchange for promising rookie Andrew Wiggins and an assortment of talent. Lastly, he is fresh off a stint in the recently concluded FIBA World Cup of Basketball where TEAM USA just won gold and he was just named tournament Most Valuable Player.
The anointment of James that he would run the show just sums up the perfect summer for Irving, and the controversial guard sums up how he is getting bombarded with the tons of questions of how the new Big Three would mesh together. Nevertheless, he still would have to deliver as James just laid on his shoulders a big responsibility.
"He's our point guard," James said. "He's our floor general, and we need him to put us in position to succeed offensively. He has to demand that and command that from us with him handling the ball."