Apparently, the Cavaliers’ locker room chemistry was not fractured, at least not according to LeBron James.
Apparently, Kyrie Irving’s comment on Wednesday that “everyone has kind of gone their own way,” wasn’t an indication that the Cavs aren’t as close this season as they were a year ago during their NBA championship run.
But even if the Cavs’ brotherhood didn’t need strengthening, even if going their own way meant more about personal issues and injuries than camaraderie, Irving provided a signature I’ve-got-your-back moment Friday night.
Whether it had anything to do with what has been said behind closed doors in recent days is unclear, but entirely possible.
After Monday’s loss in San Antonio, Irving headed back to the court for shooting drills and, when he returned, had a private discussion with James, Irving with his head covered by a towel. That same day, 14-year veteran James Jones asked his teammates what they wanted out of this season. After a 99-93 loss to the Bulls on Thursday, the Cavs held a team meeting at United Center.
Then 69 seconds into the Cavs’ 122-105 home victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Friday, Irving pushed the 76ers’ Justin Anderson into the stands and drew a flagrant-1 foul. It was a retaliatory move after Anderson shoved James from behind just seconds before, sending James to the court.
Irving didn’t know if Anderson’s hit on James was malicious, saying he only caught the tail end of it because Anderson’s aggressiveness took him out of the play. But Irving thought about the pounding James has been taking — most recently the scratched cornea and another hard foul that left James on his back in Charlotte on March 24 — and decided he had to do something.
“I saw Justin kinda lower his shoulder and knock down Bron,” Irving told reporters after the game. “I was like, ‘I hope he doesn’t get the basketball again. I’ve got to protect my brother. A lot of late hits on Bron, a lot of guys trying to get one over on him. It’s over for that, it’s over for that.’ Just trying to protect anybody and everyone on my team.”
When Irving spoke frankly about the state of the Cavs after practice Wednesday in Chicago, he vowed to do more in terms of leadership. He arrived before the team bus for Thursday morning’s shootaround, which he has done before, and worked out with Deron Williams.
In Irving’s mind, Friday’s flagrant foul was another way to show leadership.
“It’s not about size,” Irving said of taking on Anderson, who has 3 inches and 35 pounds on him. “Just protection and what we stand for here, what we’re building here, togetherness and culture we have here. I’ll do anything for my teammates. I think that same thought is echoed around this locker room. In order to get the wheels going we’ve got to do some things that really matter to us and that will maintain that culture.”
James knew what Irving was doing, both for the message it sent to opponents and to teammates.
“He was protecting me from getting shoved,” James told reporters after the game. “It’s about it being a brotherhood around here and not letting anything happen to each other.”
James didn’t agree with the picture emerging in recent days that the Cavs have locker room issues. His comments after Friday’s game indicated that the Cavs’ problems are driven more by a lack of effort and focus, that they stem from the continuing rash of injuries. Kyle Korver sat out his 10th game Friday with left foot soreness, while Richard Jefferson missed his second with left knee tendinitis.
“On the court our chemistry took a hit. Our camaraderie didn’t,” James said. “But at the end of the day we have to fix it and we’re here to fix it. This is what we have and we know that, so as we continue to get our guys healthy and we continue to get into the flow of things, we’ll figure it out.”
When J.R. Smith could be seen on television mouthing the words, “Let’s talk, let’s talk,” moments before the tip against the 76ers, he was referring to on-court communication, not what has been said about issues that need to be fixed, although that may be one.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said before the game that after the Cavs’ two recent team meetings, there had been enough talk, that it was now time for action.
It took Irving 69 seconds to put that thought into practice.
With one flagrant shove, Irving showed James he was not going to stand and watch the Cavs’ leader take a pounding. Not a moment too soon as a grueling 7-10 March concluded, Irving decided it is also time for toughness.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.