The Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling.
The defending NBA champions are slumping as the regular season winds down, as they’ve won only three of their last eight games. As part of the skid, the Cavaliers have lost the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference to the Boston Celtics.
When a team struggles, you wouldn’t think an elite player would be part of the problem, but one NBA analyst believes that’s currently the case for Cleveland.
Speaking on FOX Sports 1’s “Speak for Yourself” on Friday, Chris Broussard made the case that LeBron James actually is making the Cavaliers’ slide worse.
“He is doing too much,” Broussard said. “He’s always done too much, though. So, this is who he is. In two ways, he’s doing it. One, on the court. LeBron’s greatest strength — with everybody, your greatest strength is often your greatest weakness — his greatest strength is he’s one of the most versatile players we’ve ever seen. He can play point guard at 6-foot-8.
“But sometimes that causes confusion, because Kyrie (Irving) doesn’t know, ‘Am I bringing it up this time, or are you?’ Kyrie wants to be a point guard, but he can’t because LeBron’s the point guard half the time. Deron Williams looks confused, because he’s used to handling the ball, ‘but do I?'”
Broussard went on to explain that James’ stature could be troubling among the Cavaliers’ roster, as he labeled the star forward as “the boss.”
“So that’s on the court,” he said. “Off the court, it’s tough playing with your boss. It can be tough on the other players when you know he’s the boss. And that can be a problem.”
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
