Draymond Green is the most outspoken player in the NBA these days and loves to comment or talk trash about the Warriors bitter rival the past three seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James.
While in all fairness, this time around he was asked specifically about the Cavaliers and their 7-7 start to the season and the fact that they are currently the worst defensive team in the NBA, he still freely gave his two cents on the team and why fans should be worried.
Here is an excerpt with his Q&A with Sam Amick of USA Today:
“Q: What’s your two cents on the Cavs?
A: “Uh, they’re struggling.”
Q: Would you be panicking if you were one of their fans?
A: “To a certain extent yes. And to a certain extent, no. I don’t think anyone should be panicking 12 games in, or 13 games in. However, there are some glaring concerns with them. And at the same time, you’re missing a 30-point (per game) player (in Thomas) on the bench who’s hurt. So my concern would be that LeBron is playing so many minutes right now (James, in his 15th season, is leading the league in minutes at 38.1 per game; it’s his highest mark since the 2010-11 season).
“Yeah, he’s super human but eventually his super human powers go away, so that would be more of my concern if I’m a Cavs fan or somebody with the Cavs or a player, is like ‘Man, he’s been playing a lot of 40 minute (nights) and it’s only Nov. 12.’ But I wouldn’t be pressing the panic button just yet. At the end of the day, they know how to win. They’ve got a guy who knows how to win, so I wouldn’t necessarily press the panic button. I would see certain things and I would panic about those certain things, just because…I don’t think nobody should be playing 40 minutes a game in November (James has played 40-plus minutes in six of his 14 games).”
One of the nice things about Green’s outspokenness is his rare candor for a professional athlete to give his real and honest opinion about other teams, which he is doing here.
Green is also absolutely 100% correct in his assessment in my opinion, while having the league’s worst defense and playing .500 basketball are concerning for an expected title contender, it is only 14 games into an 82 game season and the Cavaliers are missing a top player and trying to incorporate many others.
There is real reason to panic about their 32-year-old superstar playing 40 minutes a night essentially in his 15th season.
Even with a Greek God like LeBron James, that could spell doom come postseason time as they attempt to defend their eastern conference crown.
Guys like Kevin Love, Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose (if he ever plays) need to step it up and ease the load on LeBron James for the better of the team now and later in the season.
