LeBron James could be rested as Cleveland Cavaliers keep options open
Basketball
Homecoming parade: LeBron James runs out at Cleveland's scrimmage this week. Photo: AP
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio: Shortly after LeBron James announced he was returning to the Cavaliers, a team official said one of the goals for this season is reducing his workload and finding places to rest him.
It sounds good in theory. The Miami Heat often said the same thing, but found James to be far too valuable and durable to rest.
The result is more than 33,000 minutes in 11 NBA regular seasons. Add in another 6,700 minutes in 158 postseason games - the equivalent of another two full seasons - plus three Olympic tours with Team USA and countless hours of grueling summer workouts and it's easy to see why James' back finally began bothering him a bit last season.
Throughout his career, James has been a machine who has deftly avoided major injuries. Still, his nagging back issues and high mileage were enough for the Cavs to rest James during Friday's morning workout, and coach David Blatt said it could lead him to missing games during the season as a healthy scratch.
'Players are here to play and it's our job to get them ready and keep them healthy so they can participate in every game, but it doesn't always work out that way,' Blatt said. 'Sometimes you have to know how to rest guys without the team being at risk. That's part of the process.'
The proof for such an idea was obvious in June, when an old-but-fresh Spurs team zipped passes over, under, around and through a tired Heat defense in the Finals. Gregg Popovich has strategically picked spots to rest his aging stars the last couple years, once famously eliciting a $250,000 fine from the league for doing it. But the Spurs' consecutive trips to the Finals, including one championship and nearly a second with an aging roster, is proof Pop knows what he's doing.
All of which isn't to anoint James as old. He's only 29 and still in the prime of his career. But if there is one unknown that could cripple the magical expectations for this Cavs season, it is injuries.
An assortment of injuries have forced Kevin Love to miss 23 percent of his team's games. Irving has missed 21 percent but, in fairness, that figure was up over 26 percent after his first two seasons. Irving needed to prove last season he could stay relatively healthy and he did, appearing in 71 games and earning a max contract extension along the way.
Anderson Varejao endured three seasons of horrific luck with injuries before surviving all of last season unscathed, and Mike Miller struggled through miserable back problems for years with the Heat before recovering to become the only player to appear in all 82 games last season for the Memphis Grizzlies.
Players can become sensitive to injuries, particularly players who have endured a number of them. Irving bristled at injury questions for two years, while Varejao on Friday pointed out he's been healthy for most of his career outside of that three-year window.
'Let's talk about the first 10 healthy years I had,' Varejao said. 'I feel good. That's the main thing and I'm excited for the season.'
Add it all up and four of arguably the top eight players in this rotation all have extensive injury histories. And while Irving and Love are still relatively young, Varejao and Miller are on the wrong side of 30.
'Because we have players that have a fair amount of years on their back, we've tried to be very conscious at different points of the preparation process to rest guys,' Blatt said, adding that in addition to James and Miller (who also missed Friday's morning session), the Cavs have also sat Shawn Marion and Varejao for practices early in camp. 'These are guys with multiple years on their legs so we're trying to be careful and smart with them.'
The addition of Marion could be huge in the Cavs' efforts to rest James. He is a natural small forward, can defend four positions and has been a starter throughout his career. That easily could've continued this season, but he chose less money and a slightly reduced role to chase a championship in Cleveland.
Blatt called resting James Friday morning 'insignificant' and didn't think it was worth all the attention it received. Both James and Miller were expected to return for Friday evening's practice session.
Blatt was asked if he would take his monitoring of James' minutes to Popovich's level and risk being fined for resting his stars during the season.
'That's a leading question,' Blatt said with a laugh. 'That's kind of like saying here's the jury, here's the court, are you willing to be punished for a crime you haven't committed yet?'
In truth, if a hefty fine like that were leveled, owner Dan Gilbert won't have any problem cutting the check to pay it.
'The fact we may need to rest (James) and others at points during the preparation process and even during the season, in my mind it's the right and smart thing to do,' Blatt said. 'It's not a sprint; it's a marathon. We have to be conscious of keeping these guys fresh and healthy for the games ahead.'
Akron Beacon Journal
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