LeBron the leader must step up
— -- Before LeBron James worries about the problems facing his Cleveland Cavaliers teammates in their poor start to the season, he may need to work on himself first. James is not the reason the Cavs are 5-7 and on a four-game losing streak.
Naturally, he has been their best player and is already being asked to carry too much of a load, a classic symptom of teams he's played on in his career. Much of the team has been constantly inconsistent or simply has underperformed as new coach David Blatt struggles with the adaption to the NBA game.
But James is not helping his team in an extremely important area: his leadership. If there is one area he needs to clean up first, this should be it. He's doing some damage right now with his actions and words that are not typically part of his character.
James nailed a fencepost into the Cavs' lopsided loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday when he complained of his team being "fragile" after blowing an 18-point first-half lead. This is a code word for stronger commentary -- which wasn't easy to miss -- but it is probably a quote that will be referred to for quite some time, even if/when the Cavs turn things around.
Related Stories
ABC News Live