LeBron James has a message for the Cleveland Cavaliers: Screw rest.
As he nears his 31st birthday, LeBron hasn’t been shy about peeling back the curtain on his training regimen and all he puts into staying in peak playing shape. Previously, when he was first preparing for a return to Cleveland, he also emphasized the importance of the big picture, of winning a title for the city, his city, but not rushing the process. And though the Cavaliers emerged as title contenders (obviously), LeBron took a two-week leave from the action last season to get his mind and body right.
That approach appeared to carry over into 2015-16. LeBron is playing more minutes than he did last year, but his 37.1 ticks are still below his career average. And after he logged nearly 45 minutes in an overtime loss to the New Orleans Pelicans last Friday, he took the following night off against the Miami Heat. Head coach David Blatt, both last season and this season, also hasn’t been shy about managing LeBron’s playing time and acknowledging the importance of keeping him fresh not just for the playoffs, but for years to come.
And yet, sprinkled in between these apparent messages has been something else entirely. LeBron intending to play all 82 games (before his first rest day). His minutes going up. Talk of winning now, immediately, not down the line, gaining steam.
LeBron is very obviously, very seriously, trying to get the Cavaliers a title now, when he’s still in his prime and able to carry an immense workload. It’s clearly consuming him, and because he’s championing such a hardline stance, the existing notion of cutting his minutes is officially meaningless.
As the King said, per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
James is averaging 37.1 minutes per game through 21 games this season – a full minute more than he averaged in 2014-15. His 36.1 minutes per game last season were a career low, but the idea was to drop that number even lower, to perhaps 34 minutes per night.
For a quick reminder of why his minutes load matters, last week James went over 44,000 NBA minutes for his 13-year career. The Cavs are trying to manage his mileage.
When James was averaging about 40 minutes per game early last season, he called for those minutes to come down. Now, he’s shrugging off his early season uptick.
“I’m not a 31-, 32-minute guy. That’s just not, that ain’t me,” James said after practice on Thursday. The Cavs start a two-game road trip to Orlando and Boston Friday night against the Magic.
“I’m playing at a high level,” James said. “I’m shooting the ball extremely well and I’m not hurting my team when I’m on the floor. If I’m hurting my team, then I should be sitting down. But I feel good.
James is averaging more than 39 minutes over his last six appearance, through which the Cavaliers are 3-3. Though he says he’s shooting the ball extremely well, he’s at 45 percent overall and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc during that stretch—splits that don’t come close to screaming “LeBron!”
Still, it’s difficult to argue against him playing heavy minutes, at least until Kyrie Irving is back in the fold. The Cavaliers are outscoring opponents by 11.1 points per 100 possessions when LeBron is on the floor, compared to being a minus-15.9 when he sits, according to Basketball-Reference. For reference: The league-worst, historically futile Philadelphia 76ers are a minus-12.6 points per 100 possessions overall.
Benching LeBron, then, isn’t really an option. This isn’t the best version of him we’ve ever seen (sup, 2008-09/2012-13 LeBron), but he’s still pretty damn great. And the Cavaliers need him to be pretty damn great for more than 30 to 32 minutes of every game.
