The time Tyronn Lue chastised ‘f—ing rude and disrespectful’ LeBron James and Kyrie Irving

[Better]

Take the time he and Kyrie Irving kept shooting after a Cavaliers practice during the 2015-16 season.

Jason Lloyd’s book “The Blueprint: LeBron James, Cleveland’s Deliverance and the Making of the Modern NBA,” via The Athletic:

What it lacked, however, was showers. So while Irving and James remained on the floor shooting and shooting, the rest of the sweaty Cavs stood on the sidelines or sat in the bleachers and waited. As the minutes swelled into an hour, their patience waned. Sasha Kaun, an NBA rookie, was the first to be visibly irritated. Anderson Varejao saw how mad Kaun was getting and laughed at him.

“He doesn’t get it,” Varejao joked with me. “This is life with LeBron. Sometimes you wait.”

Yet after about 20 more minutes, Varejao wasn’t laughing anymore. Now he was annoyed, too. (Kevin) Love fidgeted with his phone. Assistant coaches made dinner plans. James and Irving, however, never flinched. They simply kept shooting.

“I will never leave the court without him,” James told me. “Meaning if he’s the only person in there shooting, I’m not going to leave. I’m not. And he knows that.”

James knew teammates and coaches were getting upset, but he didn’t care. The shooting session went on so long that even Tyronn Lue, still (David) Blatt’s lead assistant, stormed back into the gym as James and Irving were concluding. “Let’s go!” Lue shouted across the gym. “This is fucking rude and disrespectful!” James chuckled and told him not to get so upset in front of the media, even though there were only a few of us there at the time.

“They can leave us. They don’t have to wait for us,” James told me later. “We know the way back.”

Maybe LeBron thought everyone could leave without him and Irving. Maybe LeBron would have been even more upset if they actually did.

This is the unspoken difficulty of working with LeBron. He wields all the power. The Cavaliers walked on eggshells around what they thought he wanted.

Except Lue. As a former player, Lue – now Cleveland’s head coach – has a certain swaywith LeBron. Can you imagine David Blatt speaking to LeBron that way?

Lue can push boundaries others can’t, but even he is in a tough spot. Who wants to stop a player from supporting a teammate by putting in extra work? Consider LeBron’s stature, and this situation becomes far more complex.

These are the types of issues that come up nearly daily with LeBron. He has earned his lofty position, and he’s not afraid to leverage it – usually for better, but sometimes for worse. And it’s not always clear which or how to handle it.

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[g0nbad real bad]

A testament to why the others will never be great and why that should have never be called a super team.

 

[Mask]

This a good little piece....

I dig small stuff like this

 

[alexw]

Lmbaooo bron is acting like that I can only imagine how Michael Jordan was

 

[Mask]

Lmbaooo bron is acting like that I can only imagine how Michael Jordan was

The thing was he only was doing that because Kyrie felt sownthing wasn't right with his shot and he wanted to correct it....so Lebron was there for/with him

 

[Mt. Yukon]

I mean... I wish I would wait for another man to finish doing him. WTF??? Practice is over??? Im grown and can find my own way around. IMO you have 2 options... Either stay and work on your game with them after practice, or throw up 2 fingers. WTF you waiting around getting cold sitting in your own sweat for??? You mad, leave. NBA contracts are guaranteed.

 

[brickwall92]

I mean... I wish I would wait for another man to finish doing him. WTF??? Practice is over??? Im grown and can find my own way around. IMO you have 2 options... Either stay and work on your game with them after practice, or throw up 2 fingers. WTF you waiting around getting cold sitting in your own sweat for??? You mad, leave. NBA contracts are guaranteed.

The op post confuses me

 

[alexw]

I mean... I wish I would wait for another man to finish doing him. WTF??? Practice is over??? Im grown and can find my own way around. IMO you have 2 options... Either stay and work on your game with them after practice, or throw up 2 fingers. WTF you waiting around getting cold sitting in your own sweat for??? You mad, leave. NBA contracts are guaranteed.

Nah it doesn't work that way. You can't leave practice until everybody is finished on the court. It's probably something team rule

 

[Mt. Yukon]

Nah it doesn't work that way. You can't leave practice until everybody is finished on the court. It's probably something team rule

I have no doubt its probably a rule of some sort. But sometimes you gotta be the bad guy, and sometimes they just gonna have to be mad. I am not about to be held hostage because 2 guys wanna do them regardless of how it affects others. The first few times, cool. Ill get some work in with these 2 since theyre great and all. But if it was something they did on the reg... Naaa... Fine me if you gotta, be mad, or whatever else. But NBA money means I aint gotta do shit.

 

[shaddyvillethug]

Don't make threads

Go to the store and get lotion

 

[LSN]

A testament to while the others will never be great...

interesting way to look @ it...good point

 

[LSN]

I have no doubt its probably a rule of some sort. But sometimes you gotta be the bad guy, and sometimes they just gonna have to be mad. I am not about to be held hostage because 2 guys wanna do them regardless of how it affects others. The first few times, cool. Ill get some work in with these 2 since theyre great and all. But if it was something they did on the reg... Naaa... Fine me if you gotta, be mad, or whatever else. But NBA money means I aint gotta do shit.

they were worried about ending up like the keebler elf nigga...damn not tryna be funny I honestly can’t even remember his name now...the crazy dude who supposedly hit up LBJ mom

 

[Mt. Yukon]

they were worried about ending up like the keebler elf nigga...damn not tryna be funny I honestly can’t even remember his name now...the crazy dude who supposedly hit up LBJ mom

Delonte West???

 

[DirtyCake]

What’s the story here? Why couldn’t they leave? And them Niggas keep shooting if they wanted to??

 

[K Luv]

Is the point of the article that LBJ wouldn’t let Kyrie do anything better than him?

 

[LSN]

Delonte West???

yeah

 

[ugk]

Lmbaooo bron is acting like that I can only imagine how Michael Jordan was

Well Bron ain't punching niggas... yet

 

[gene cisco]

They were practicing at Mo Williams gym.

Fuck was Mo Williams thinking. How you build a gym with lockerrooms and no showers?

 

[durham]

and to think Kyrie was willing to leave a guy that held him down like this?? maybe I read it wrong or out of context. Seems like they worked hard, competed hard with each other

 

[Mask]

Is the point of the article that LBJ wouldn’t let Kyrie do anything better than him?

I didn't think so, seemed like Kyrie wanted to work more and bron wasn't gonna let him be out there alone.....

 

[Mask]

and to think Kyrie was willing to leave a guy that held him down like this?? maybe I read it wrong or out of context. Seems like they worked hard, competed hard with each other

Naw you didn't....seem like much of the problems was Kyrie didn't get the same freedom as Lebron.
The trade think happening because Kyrie didn't want to be there and Lebron left...then it got out that he wanted a trade, (which he did if Lebron wasn't gonna be there) decided to get in his feelings because that came out...(that's want I came to understand a few days ago)....

Now the bot speaking to teammates for a extended time during the season....ummm I don't know

 

[comment101]

I have no doubt its probably a rule of some sort. But sometimes you gotta be the bad guy, and sometimes they just gonna have to be mad. I am not about to be held hostage because 2 guys wanna do them regardless of how it affects others. The first few times, cool. Ill get some work in with these 2 since theyre great and all. But if it was something they did on the reg... Naaa... Fine me if you gotta, be mad, or whatever else. But NBA money means I aint gotta do shit.

Basketball is a super duper team sport lol.

 

[Mt. Yukon]

Basketball is a super duper team sport lol.

So either the entire TEAM is out there, or practice is over and those are individual workouts... Workouts I may or may not partake in. But if Bron and Kyrie made the decision to keep on balling, I would make the decision to shower, and bounce.

 

[Better]

Image is hugely important to Lebron. We knew that since those tapes of Lebron getting dunked on summer pickup prior to his rookie season were confiscated.

That being said, it is not a good look if the leader of the team is on the sideline while his subordinate is on the court working on his game - even IF it inconvenienced other people.

I forgot where it was, but I remember Lebron talking about his friends that he brought in to run his empire, and he made it a point to say he put his friends in position to be successful. Sure you did. With all due respect to those brothas - cause I'm sure they're capable, or Lebron would've cut the cord already - but there are a lot of capable people who didn't get those opportunities, because Lebron preferred to give them to his friends.

That all being said, I know that type of personality. My aunt is like that. She is VERY giving, but A LOT of ring kissing takes place in my family, and she loves to remind people of what she has done for others.

 

[comment101]

So either the entire TEAM is out there, or practice is over and those are individual workouts... Workouts I may or may not partake in. But if Bron and Kyrie made the decision to keep on balling, I would make the decision to shower, and bounce.

I dont know man. Maybe its tradition or an actual team rule lol.

 

[older version]

I can see these two pulling this off trying to motivate the other players.

Well, if you don't want to wait around, up your game.