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LeBron James

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Windy is right, his detractors are wrong. Lebron plays a uniquely punishing style of basketball -- he is a guy with a power forwards' body who plays like a point guard. Never before have we seen a 260 pound player who has to penetrate from the perimeter over and over again and play a Jordan-style aerial game. Then combine that with being the main engine on all his teams and playing record numbers of minutes, many of which were high-intensity playoff minutes, by the age of 30. The heavier you are the more stress on your body from all that leaping and crashing to the ground. The signs are everywhere that his body is starting to break down a bit. Even since he came back, you can see him tiring on occasion and needing to take plays off in subtle ways. This was visible last year on defense as well.

The recovery since his return is evidence that he needs MORE rest not less. His rejuvenation shows how run down he was, the fact that it happened just on general soreness and not even a specific identified injury is a warning sign. Give him games off during the season and get him as fresh as possible for the playoff 'second season'. The Cavs would be fools not to. Lebron is the heart and center of this team. Protect the investment in him.

This coming week, I would play him against Detroit, Portland, Sacramento (3 games in four days) then sit him out against Minny/Philly to give him five full days off. If we can't beat Minny/Philly then that's a sign that the rest of the team is not functioning like it should.
 
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players are not cars, there is no such things as milage. There is age and Lebron just turned 30.
 
Binkster said:
3 years of college basketball is still playing basketball (albeit less games), I'm sure he was still playing in summer leagues, for Team USA, etc. He also pursued a full-time baseball career. 40 years old is 40 years old.
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Baseball, well known as a uniquely physically taxing sport. Right up with softball.

Also, do you not remember that Jordan was a pale shadow of himself at 40?
 
Lebron takes care of his body the right way. Comparing one player to another sorely based on minutes played is short-sighted. All athletes prepare their bodies differently.

The rise of yoga in professional sports, which Lebron is a huge advocate of, is worth paying notice too. The more flexible an athlete is, the less likely they will deal with nagging muscle and ligament-related injuries, which is common place in the NBA.

Keep in mind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was one of the first NBA players who ever used yoga to train...he played until he was 42 and still is the NBA leader in minutes played.
 
He's had plenty of rest recently. If they are going to sit him, then do it a bit down the road. Resting him after he just took time off is a bit ridiculous. He's 30, not 35. If he needs a night off down the road, fine, but he's already missed more games this season than at any of his previous 11 seasons and we aren't even at the All Star break yet.
 
"But try to honestly build a case why James should even get on a plane at midnight Friday to play a fourth game in five nights in Minnesota on Saturday when he could take the weekend off at home instead. Other than feeling like he let down some Timberwolves fans, there isn't one."

Not a single reason to sit LeBron apart from letting Minnesota fans down? Come on Windy, that's just blatant hyperbole to try and make a point. The main reason the Cavs would be brazen enough to play LeBron (sarcasm) four times in five nights is to, you know, win a basketball game. We also could potentially be playing for a 10-game winning streak against Minny, which would only be one off the franchise record of eleven straight.
 
NoTitleTown said:
Are you guys seriously just going to ignore the first part of the season? LeBron looked run down and old. The fact that he ONLY NOW looks better AFTER resting proves Windy's point. I swear, some of you need to work on your reading comprehension.
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Congratulations on falling for the greatest trick ever played.
 
If windy knew the game of basketball he will know the king rests during games while he's out there playing the game
 
LeBron needs some rest, but not now. Let things click in with the new guys so everyone can be familiar with each other. Then once the chemistry clicks in for good LeBron can take some days off. He just came off an extended break anyways.
 
Caffegy said:
players are not cars, there is no such things as milage. There is age and Lebron just turned 30.
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you can find examples in every single sport where age and mileage wear on players. to think otherwise is completely naive
 
Binkster said:
And Malone had to bang around in the paint for rebounds more than LeBron ever will. He also primarily lived in the post taking and delivering elbows, hard fouls, etc.


You're missing the premise of my argument. It's absolutely something you need to be cognizant of, but not something that should scare you simply because Kobe Bryant has been oft-injured at an older age. To me, it's a non-issue right now for a guy who is naturally gifted in terms of physical makeup.

He's 30 years old. Windhorst implicating that the Cavs are mishandling the situation is a reach.
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The difference between lebron and these dudes (MJ, Kobe and Malone) is that lebron literally does or had to do everything for his teams to win. How many players have had to lead their teams all across the board like Lebron had to do the last 4 seasons in Miami? He also had to guard 1-4 and sometimes 5's lol. Jordan and Kobe never had to all of that, nor were they asked to.
 
AZCavs said:
He's had plenty of rest recently. If they are going to sit him, then do it a bit down the road. Resting him after he just took time off is a bit ridiculous. He's 30, not 35. If he needs a night off down the road, fine, but he's already missed more games this season than at any of his previous 11 seasons and we aren't even at the All Star break yet.
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But given that we will make the playoffs, how much do we even care about the regular season record? It would be nice to get into the third playoff slot so we don't have to go through three of Chicago/Atlanta/Toronto/Washington to get to the finals but other than that it's not really a big deal. Even that is not such a big deal.
 
Binkster said:
Congratulations on falling for the greatest trick ever played.
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So let me get this straight...are you dumb enough to actually think that age won't catch up to a 30 year old athlete sooner than later?
 
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