LeBron James isn’t worried about squeezing Isaiah Thomas into the Cleveland Cavaliers’ rotation and offensive tendencies once the All-Star point guard full recovers from a hip injury he suffered towards the end of last season.
Because he’s basically figured out how everything will work…by playing NBA 2K.
From ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin:
LeBron James says he’s already visualized how Isaiah Thomas will fit in with the Cavs by playing with him on NBA 2K: “It’s the most realistic basketball game you could ever play. I mix and match a lot of lineup changes to see how we can be really good. I’ve done that.”
This reads a little ridiculously at first blush—awesomely, make no mistake, but ridiculously all the same.
LeBron James, of all people, knows how difficult it can be to integrate high-end talent for the first time. He went through it with the Miami Heat when he bolted Cleveland in 2010, as he tried acclimating himself to Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. He endured a similar learning curve after rejoining the Cavaliers in 2014, this time with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving. Hell, he slogged through identical problems only this year, prior to the Cavaliers’ current franchise-long winning streak, as he adapted to a new world order that didn’t include Irving but instead employed a plethora of ball-dominant non-shooters in Derrick Rose, Jeff Green and, once again, Wade.
Everything is humming in Cleveland now. The Cavaliers’ defense looks loads better, even without Tristan Thompson. The bench has been straight fire, especially on the offensive end. Wade is getting Sixth Man of the Year love, mostly from LeBron James himself. If Thompson gets healthy and accepts a role off the bench, and if Jae Crowder ever works his way out of a months-long malaise, the Cavaliers could be deadly.
Thomas is a part of that projection. But it will take time to incorporate him. He’s a pretty good spot-up shooter, but, at the same time, he’s used to working with the ball in his hands. Can LeBron really figure out how to strike a balance by playing a video game, knowing how difficult it has been to complete similar implementations in the past?
Conventional logic suggests no. But let’s be real: Who am I, or you, or any of us, to doubt LeBron’s basketball acumen? If he says NBA 2K is helping him prep for Thomas’ debut, then we must assume it will do exactly that.
