While the debate over who should win the NBA MVP award goes back and forth between Russell Westbrook and James Harden, LeBron James is involved in a different debate: to play or not to play? The Cavs' star has played in 63 games this NBA season out of the 69 (all starts). He has not played in the other six games because Ty Lue, the Cavaliers' head coach, has decided to rest him.
There are three main criticisms of LeBron for sitting out games. The first is from past NBA players, those who played in the NBA before LeBron who form the "back in my day we didn't do that" argument. Then, there is the legacy argument, those who say "Jordan/Kobe never did that" or "he can't be the greatest ever by taking days off". Finally, there is the argument from the fans, "I drove x number of miles to see LeBron play and he sat" and "I paid x number of dollars to see LeBron who comes to my town once a year and he sat that game".
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To past NBA players - you may be right. Back in your day you may not have taken days off for rest, but LeBron has played more minutes than you. LeBron James is ranked 7th all-time in the NBA in minutes per game. The six players above him are: Wilt Chamberlain with 45.80 min/game, Bill Russell with 42.29, Oscar Robertson with 42.20, Allen Iverson with 41.12, Elgin Baylor with 40.03, and Jerry West 39.24. Notice the absence of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant - three players who LeBron is often put side by side with for comparison.
At his current age of 32, LeBron has also played more games (348 more) and minutes (13,676 more) than Michael Jordan has played by the same age of 32. LeBron James is currently 28th on the NBA's all-time minutes’ list, again at only age 32. He has played in 199 playoff games; this is almost another two and a half seasons on top of the fourteen seasons he has already played. On top of that, LeBron over his stretch of 6 straight Finals appearances, has played at least 20 playoff games in each of the six seasons.
To the legacy argument - this is closely tied in with the argument made by past players. It may be pointed out that by sitting, LeBron is somehow hurting his legacy and silent campaign to be the best to ever play the game. There is not a strong correlation here. Often, when comparing LeBron and Jordan, we look at the totality of Jordan's career against what LeBron has done so far. "Jordan has six rings and LeBron only has 3" but both players at age 32 are tied with three championships won and LeBron has one more MVP award than Michael. LeBron takes his rest by sitting out whole games, while Jordan was given rest by playing less minutes than LeBron over the course of each of their careers.
The Cavs are geared to make another Finals run this year and for the next two years with their top five players all signed through the end of the 2018-2019 season. Jordan was 35 when he won his final title of the 1995-1998 three-peat Bulls. LeBron has been healthy over the course of his career and has plenty of time to win more rings. His overwhelming number of minutes and games played can be a justifying factor for LeBron sitting games out to rest if he can continue to win championships.
To the fans - I am sorry, it is bad luck. When buying a ticket, you buy a ticket that says the "Cleveland Cavaliers" on it, not "LeBron James". The NBA league office has not been pleased with the practice of sitting players either. Clearly they want their fans to be happy and care about their ticket sales and TV deals. Professional sports are entertainment based, and when teams sit players the NBA sees their product as not being as entertaining for the fans, particularly on prime-time, nationally televised games.
This past Saturday, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all sat out for their game against the Clippers that was shown on ABC at the 8:30 national prime-time slot. Cavs' GM David Griffin stated he received a call from the league office 7 minutes after the announcement that the Cavaliers' "big three" would sit for the game against the Clippers. Griffin said "I feel bad for the league. I really do. But it is what it is for us from an injury standpoint." Last Thursday, March 16, Kyrie left the game with a knee injury as Kevin Love made his return from a knee surgery. Griffin told Ramona Shelburne that he looked at the Clippers game as the Cavs only resting one player, LeBron. He cited Kevin Love rehabbing from surgery along with Kyrie getting banged up on Thursday night as good reasons to not play both players for the back to back games. After that he said this about LeBron "I can’t make [LeBron] drag himself through this tonight by himself and then have everybody else play tomorrow and still not win."
David Griffin said he felt bad for the league but the Cavs did what was best from an injury standpoint. Romana then asked Griffin how he felt about the league's concerns regarding the fans and ABC who both pay the NBA, "Yeah, and they’re paying me to win a championship."
The Cavs also have a responsibility to their fan base, which resides mainly in Cleveland. Many fans have asked why LeBron cannot rest home games instead of those on the road. This way, fans that do not have a regular chance to see LeBron and other NBA stars will be able to do so., Bby having LeBron sit road games, some fans feel they are being deprived. The priority for any sports franchise is to maintain their fan base in their hometown as this is where most of their ticket revenue comes from.
There is one way that LeBron sitting hurts him though, the MVP vote. Russell Westbrook is averaging a triple-double and James Harden is 1.9 rebounds per game short of doing the sSame. LeBron is averaging 26 points, 8.5 rebounds, and almost 9 assists. LeBron is also shooting a much better percentage at 54% than Harden (44%) and Westbrook (43%). LeBron also has a better three-point percentage on the season. LeBron deserves to be in the conversation for MVP this year. Instead, the conversation regarding LeBron is mainly his absence from games., even though it has only been six games.
Sunday night, March 19, LeBron talked to reporters after the game, "...a coach's job is to figure out a way for their team to compete for a championship, not compete for a game." (per ESPN)
Any statistics given in this article have been referenced from Basketball Reference.
