Someone in LeBron James’ life has made a mistake, and he doesn’t think that person is properly living with the consequences. That much we know.
The specifics — any specifics — are difficult to glean from James’ cryptic tweets on Tuesday, when the embattled star took the evasive route to calling out someone who apparently has wronged him.
With a Cleveland squad that, despite a 42-17, East-leading record, is scrambling and showing holes that get exploited repeatedly — including by an unbelievable Warriors team in a 34-point January annihilation — James has his share of potential antagonists. A rundown of the possibilities:
- Kyrie Irving: The Cavaliers star point guard is having a solid, if slightly down, year in his comeback from left knee surgery to average 19 points and 4.4 assists per game. But on a team that is growing in dysfunction — a team on which James allegedly orchestrated a coup to oust coach David Blatt, and with new rumors flying about who wants a trade seemingly every week — Irving is reportedly unhappy. On Monday, an ESPN report indicated that the former Duke star, who signed a five-year, then-max contract in the summer of 2014, is eyeing his way out of Cleveland. Leaking that bit of information to Stephen A. Smith could have angered LeBron. Unless James is actually disappointed in …
- Stephen A. Smith: Could James be insinuating the analyst conveyed a flawed report on Irving, and hasn’t backed down from it? In Irving’s defense, the Smith report — in which he admitted he didn’t “know the particulars” but Irving “would prefer to be someplace other than Cleveland” — did not cite Irving himself, or any sources really. Just something Smith had been “hearing for months.”
- Tyronn Lue: Has James soured on the assistant coach who inherited Blatt’s job? Lue — who has been close with the all-world superstar — slighted James, telling reporters he couldn’t pull LeBron from Friday’s loss to the Raptors because he didn’t want to come out. Because the minutes added up, Lue said Sunday that he couldn’t play the 31-year-old after his workload two days previous. Without James, the Cavs were blasted by Washington.
- Kevin Love: It’s not clear if Cleveland’s third star has done anything recently to get on James’ bad side, but the two have never quite clicked since the 2014 Minnesota trade that united the Big Three. So, safe to say Love is at least in the running when James takes his frustrations out on Twitter on unknown targets.
- This Thunder fan: Maybe, just maybe, LeBron isn’t ready to “just suck it up.”