LeBron James’ Rise in Leadership is Evident to Teammates

The legacy of LeBron James has been building each and every season since he left Cleveland to join the Miami Heat, but it has taken a huge leap forward now that he has re-joined the Cavaliers. He has made it clear that his number one goal for the remainder of his career is to bring a championship back to his hometown team, and the Cavaliers have done everything to build that type of a team for him.

There are quite a few differences from James’ first tenure with Cleveland to now, and one of them has been his major rise in leadership and how he conducts himself both on and off the court.

James has become one of the best leaders in the league, and is the main reason that the Heat were able to win two championships and reach three in his four seasons down in Miami. He was able to communicate well on the court to make sure his team was doing everything right, and he also led by example off the court. Miami still has a very talented team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in town, but they will miss LeBron’s leadership a lot.

Now that his stint in Miami is behind him, he can focus 100 percent on turning things around and back towards championship contention in Cleveland. During the first practice of the season, James took the team and had a team meeting for 30 minutes, in which he talked about every player on the roster and what needed to be done to win a championship.

“I was looking like, ‘Wow.’ That’s crazy that he broke down every individual thing he wants guys to do. He wrote down every player from the guy in training camp who may be here or may not be here. …It was unbelievable. It was great.” – Dion Waiters

While most players will find that type of leadership great, others will find it mildly annoying like Heat point guard Mario Chalmers and power forward Chris Bosh. They have been very open about disliking the way that James made them change their games, and the way that he scolded them when they didn’t do the job that he wanted.

That being said, the Cavaliers desperately needed the type of leadership that James will bring to the table. He will be the driving force behind whatever Cleveland does this season, and will be able to help out the young talent that is on the roster.

Needless to say, the growth of James in every aspect of his game and leadership ability has been absolutely amazing to watch. He is a proven winner now, and players want to play alongside of him and learn from him. James may have a lot of haters, but there is no question that he is one of the best players in the NBA with one of the highest basketball IQ’s in the game.

Cleveland is ready for a championship to come to town, and James might very well lead them to one this coming season.