Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach David Blatt just announced that his top player Lebron James will sit out for the remainder of the preseason games this season. James had already missed the Tuesday game against Atlanta and today’s game against Indiana. In a statement released today, The Cavaliers declared the 4-time MVP healthy, stressing that the club wants to limit James’ activity to conserve his health.
Lebron James has been playing a lot of minutes in recent years. He has been to the NBA Finals for the past five seasons and even played for the 2012 USA Gold Medal Game between seasons. The NBA season is a long and grueling schedule, and it even gets tougher when teams get into the playoffs. It can be exhausting for a normal season, so you can just imagine how tiring it can be to reach the Finals for five straight years.
James is relatively young at the age of 30, but he has been in the NBA since he was 18 years old. The player also known as the Chosen One and King James was drafted by his hometown Cavs in 2003, but then he made headlines in 2010 when decided to ‘take his talents to South Beach’ and signed as a free agent with the Miami Heat. Two championships and two MVP awards later, Lebron shocked the world again when he signed back with the Cavaliers last year and vowed to get a title to Cleveland.
Despite being widely considered as the best player in the NBA today, Lebron has not won any significant awards or achievements in the past two years. He lost last year’s finals to the Golden State Warriors and was second in MVP voting behind Steph Curry, also with the Warriors. The year before that, as a member of the Miami Heat, he lost in the Finals once again, this time to the San Antonio Spurs. That year, he was second in MVP voting to Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant.
Lebron struggled to fulfill his promise to Cleveland last year, with two of the top three players (Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love) for the Cavs being injured during the playoffs. James did everything to win it, and despite making it to the Finals, fell two games shy of getting the title. This year, both injured players have healed and are ready to help the King get back on his throne.
