LeBron James Wants The Big Three To Play Less
By Evan Massey
LeBron James wants head coach David Blatt to begin lowering the minutes that “The Big Three” have been playing.
The Cleveland Cavaliers got off to a bit of a rough start this season with “The Big Three” playing their first regular season basketball together, but have gotten back on track and sit at 5-4. LeBron James has been much more aggressive over the past week, but believes that head coach David Blatt needs to focus on playing his three stars a bit less from this point forward.
"“I wouldn’t mind it. I think we have to give our guys on the bench more of an opportunity. I looked at a stat and myself, Kyrie (Irving) and Kevin (Love) are three of the top five guys in the league in minutes per game and that has to come down.”"
Blatt will need to be very careful about overusing his stars and tiring them out during the early parts of the regular season. James has seen what overplaying stars can do, as his supporting cast with the Miami Heat wore completely down against the San Antonio Spurs last season in the NBA Finals.
That being said, Blatt is a rookie head coach in the NBA and he has had to ride his superstars to wins after a very disappointing start. Cleveland doesn’t have a very deep bench to help give the Cavaliers’ stars some time on the bench, and it isn’t going to improve anytime soon unless Cleveland is able to pull off a trade. Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, and Mike Miller are the best bench options, but behind them there isn’t a ton of talent.
James is a great leader on the floor, and he is right about this situation and the stars needing more rest. Perhaps what Blatt needs to begin doing is rotating his stars out one at a time and giving them five minute breaks throughout the game. It’s going to be very difficult for him to learn on the run, but he’ll have to if he wants his team to stay fresh all season.
What does this mean for the rest of the players on the Cavaliers’ roster that aren’t named LeBron James, Kevin Love, or Kyrie Irving?
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It means that they will be asked to step up in a big way over the next couple of months especially. Waiters will be asked to take a bigger role while also continuing to be a team player, while Thompson is going to need to improve his scoring numbers as well when called upon. The rest of the bench including Miller, Joe Harris, Will Cherry, and Matthew Dellavedova will all need to step their game up as well.
Cleveland still looks like a legitimate title contender, but their stars being concerned about minutes and fatigue is not a good sign. It will be intriguing to see how Blatt tries to make up for the type of minutes that James, Love, and Irving are playing, and how he lowers their minutes.