lebron james – Page 5 – NBA Blog

LeBron James decision to opt-out or not coming today

LeBron James can stick with his current Cavs contract. Or out out, and re-sign with the Cavs for more money. Or opt out, and sign elsewhere. Or opt out, and then line up a sign-and-trade with the Cavs to get sent elsewhere. Here’s the Philadelphia Inquirer reporting on the situation:

LeBron James has a huge decision to make before free agency begins Sunday.

He has until 11:59 p.m. Friday to opt in or out of his $35.6 million player option with the Cleveland Cavaliers for next season. James would become an unrestricted free agent by opting out.

James would be eligible to sign a five-year, $205 million free-agent deal with Cleveland this summer if he opts out… If James signs with another team, his max salary would be $152 million over four years.

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LeBron James goes through full practice

Lots of players get banged up in preseason. But when it’s a star or superstar, then it’s always worth taking full notice. Because if a big dog is out, it means the rest of the team — most importantly new additions to the squad — can’t fully adjust to playing alongside the star. Which matters — early on, at least. Here’s ESPN.com reporting on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers:

LeBron James went through a full practice Thursday for the first time since tweaking his left ankle last week and could play in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ preseason game against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, said Cavs coach Tyronn Lue.

“We’ll see how he feels after going through practice today,” Lue said.

It would be the Cavs first test of their new-look starting lineup of Kevin Love, Jae Crowder, J.R. Smith and Derrick Rose flanking James.

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LeBron James will not play 3-on-3 basketball in Olympics

The 2020 Olympics in Japan will include 3-on-3 basketball as an event, but unless LeBron James has a big change of heart, don’t expect him to participate.

“I’m not very good in a three-on-three thing, I’m more of a five-on-five guy,” said James to the media, according to ESPN.com. “I stay out of the one-on-one matchups during our practice, the two-on-twos and the three-on-threes. So probably not. I probably won’t be a part of the three-on-three matchup that it has to offer.”

“I think it’s great for basketball,” said James, per ESPN. “For us to be able to add another category to the Olympics, another basketball category, I think it’s pretty great. I haven’t seen the full layout of how they plan on executing it; and are they going to use NBA guys or are going to use college guys?”

It’ll be interesting to see what caliber of players do represent the USA in 3-on-3. Right now, it’s anyone’s guess. It’s quite possible NBA players won’t be involved.

LeBron James free agency update

LeBron James returned to the Cavs two seasons ago, helped take the team to the 2015 NBA Finals, and returned there in 2016 to win the championship. He can choose to enter free agency this July, and will likely do so, but only to re-sign with the Cavs for more money. That’s been the expectation, and today Cleveland.com provides additional reason to believe that’s what will take place, as reported below:

“I love it here. I love being here. I love my teammates,” James told cleveland.com, moments before he boarded a float at The Q for the Cavs’ championship parade through downtown Cleveland. “Obviously my agent will take care of all the logistical things but, I’m happy. I’ve got no plans to go nowhere at this point.”

James, 31, can become a free agent if he decides not to exercise the one-year, $24 million player’s option in his contract. He will all but certainly decline the option on June 29 so he can get a raise from the Cavs — he can make upwards of $30 million next season under a new contract.

Amazing LeBron James 2016 NBA Finals stats

By Jeff Lenchiner

The Cavaliers beat the Warriors in seven games to win the 2016 NBA championship. Here’s what Cavs star LeBron James averaged in the Finals series:

29.7 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 8.9 apg, 2.6 spg, 2.3 bpg, on 49% shooting.

That’s… insane.

Those are video game numbers.

Those are the type of stats your buddy in the park makes up, as a joke, about some rec league he allegedly dominated that you happen to have never heard of.

Except, they’re real, and they accurately represent what LeBron accomplished in the NBA Finals, against a team that had just won more regular season games than any team in the history of the NBA.

Cavs guard Kyrie Irving was excellent in the Finals too of course, averaging 27.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.9 apg and 2.1 spg, shooting 47% and hitting 40.5% from three-point range. He will never average a ton of assists in the current makeup of the Cavs team. But he produced, and often stepped up when the team seemed to be in an offensive lull. He did his job.

Third in scoring for the new champs was shooting guard J.R. Smith at 10.6 ppg (40% FG, 36% threes), then Tristan Thompson at 10.3 ppg and 10.1 rpg.

Kevin Love was quiet in the Finals, averaging 8.5 ppg and 6.8 rpg in 26.3 minutes per outing.

Back to those LeBron 2016 NBA Finals stats: have fun trying to come up with proper adjectives to describe just how awesome they are. And after you do that, just stare at them for a while, because they don’t happen often.

NBA Finals: Tyronn Lue says LeBron James deserves more calls

The Cavs are down 3-1 to the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. Game 5 is Sunday in Oakland. The first three games of the series were blowouts, so a few free throws in either direction wouldn’t have made much of a difference, but Game 4 was close. Did LeBron James deserve more free throw attempts? Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

LeBron James barked plenty toward Warriors Stephen Curry and Draymond Green on the court during the second half of Friday’s Game 4, and the Cleveland All-Star forward transferred some of his ire toward the officials after the 108-97 loss.

“I’m not quite sure what I can do to get to the free-throw line, but I’ve got to continue to be aggressive for our team,” James said. “I’m getting hit, but the refs are not seeing it that way on my drives. I’ve got to continue to be aggressive. That’s who I am for our team. That’s what opens up the floor for a lot of our shooters.” …

“He never gets calls,” Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue said. “He attacks. Outside of Russell Westbrook, he’s one of the guys who attacks the paint every single play, and he doesn’t get a fair whistle all the time because of his strength, his power and guys bounce off of him. But those are still fouls. We’ve got to play through the officiating.”

LeBron James now 3rd in all-time NBA playoff total assists

The Cavs lost to the Raptors in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight, but at least LeBron James reached another career milestone, passing Jason Kidd in total playoff assists:

1) Magic Johnson
2) John Stockton
3) LeBron James
4) Jason Kidd
5) Tony Parker
6) Larry Bird
7) Steve Nash
8) Scottie Pippen
9) Kobe Bryant
10) Michael Jordan

LeBron James keeps climbing NBA all-time historical lists

The Cavaliers’ LeBron James notched his third triple-double of the season in Saturday’s 107-93 win over the Knicks. It was the 42nd triple-double of James’ career, moving him one ahead of Fat Lever and into third place on the list for most triple-doubles over the last 30 years, behind Jason Kidd (107) and Magic Johnson (65). James, who is averaging 28.4 points over his last five games, is poised to make a big move on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. He’s currently in 13th place with 26,665 points, three shy of Dominique Wilkins (26,668). Next up for James is Oscar Robertson (26,710). The Cavaliers host the Rockets on Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader on TNT (8 p.m. ET).

— NBA Broadcasters Bulletin

Cavaliers re-sign LeBron James

The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed forward LeBron James, General Manager David Griffin announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.

According to ESPN.com, it is a two-year contract worth the maximum of $46.9 million, with the second year a player option.

“LeBron’s re-signing today is a reflection and continuation of his strong, personal commitment to help deliver championships to Northeast Ohio and Cavs fans everywhere,” said Griffin. “We share this deep level of commitment with him. His impact upon this team, his community and the game are impossible to overstate and we look forward to continuing on our mission together.”

James, a four-time MVP and 11-time NBA All-Star, appeared in 69 regular season games (all starts) for the Cavaliers in 2014-15 with averages of 25.3 points (3rd in NBA) on .488 shooting from the field, 6.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists (7th in NBA) and 1.6 steals in 36.1 minutes. It was James’ 11th consecutive season averaging at least 25.0 points per game, which is tied with Karl Malone (1987-88 to 1997-98) and Jerry West (1961-62 to 1971-72) for the most consecutive seasons averaging at least 25.0 points in NBA history (min. 30 games). James earned All-NBA First Team honors and was also the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice in 2014-15 (February and March), as well as the Player of the Week three times (week ending Nov. 16, Nov. 30 & Jan. 25).

James was one of only three players in the NBA to tally 1,700 points, 500 assists, 400 rebounds and 100 steals (James Harden, Russell Westbrook). The 6-8 forward scored in double figures in all 69 games, increasing his consecutive double-digit scoring streak to 641 (third-longest streak in NBA history). In addition to scoring in double figures every game he appeared in, James had 52 games of at least 20 points, 18 games of at least 30 points and three 40-point outings. He also registered 22 double-doubles and two triple-doubles.

The Akron, Ohio native remains the franchise’s leader in points scored (16,994), scoring average (27.5), field goals made (6,039), three-pointers made (891), free throws made (4,025), assists (4,321), steals (1,064) and minutes played (24,601). Over his 12-year NBA career, James has appeared in 911 regular season games (910 starts) with averages of 27.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 39.3 minutes, while shooting .496 from the floor, .342 from three-point range and .745 from the foul line.

For his postseason career, James has appeared in 178 playoff contests (all starts) with averages of 28.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals in 42.5 minutes per game. He started in all 20 games during the Cavs’ NBA Finals run in the 2015 Playoffs, recording an NBA-high 14 double-doubles (three triple-doubles) and averaging 30.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks in 42.2 minutes per game. He joined Oscar Robertson as the only players in league playoff history to average at least 30.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists in a single postseason.

LeBron James, still playing with no headband

LeBron James, still playing with no headband

Here’s the Northeast Ohio Media Group reporting on the state of LeBron James’ headband. These days, the headband is on the bench, waiting to be utlized. But it shouldn’t hold its headband breath. Explanation:

Cavaliers small forward LeBron James has immersed himself in the spirit of togetherness.

On March 10 in Dallas, he played without wearing his patented headband. The last time he went into a game without headgear was a preseason matchup against Detroit during his rookie season.

He has been headband-less ever since.

James never provided a rationale for ditching his branded look. He has simply stated that he chose to do so out of the blue. Recently I was able to get more of an explanation out of him.

“I did it because I just wanted to look like my teammates,” James told Northeast Ohio Media Group. “Just wanted to be one. Nothing more than that.”