NBA Rumors: Cleveland Cavaliers Not 'Good Enough;' LeBron James Wars with New Coach

By Mitch de Leon
NBA: Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
Jan 23, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) and Chicago Bulls guard Aaron Brooks (0) battle for the ball during the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. The Bulls won 96-83.  Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers shocked the NBA community with the firing of David Blatt. Coming out on top of the Eastern Conference, the departure of the then head coach left other basketball teams confused. While some feel that this might be a good move for the Kevin Love squad, others feel that the Cleveland Cavaliers only wanted a scapegoat for their losses. Moreover, many feel that Tyronn Lue might just be the right coach to maximize LeBron James' skills in the hardwood court.

The optimism on James' approval of Lue proved to be short-lived though. Sources claim that the new head coach and the former Miami Heat star do not see eye to eye - a situation quite similar with that faced by Blatt in the past. Unlike Blatt, however, Lue appears not to be intimated by King James. In fact, Cleveland Cavaliers' new head coach is not afraid to call out the star players of the NBA team if necessary.

"I don't think we're in good enough shape," said Lue via Cleveland.com. He added, "Early, we wanted to push it, we wanted to open the floor and we came out and did that and then we just dropped off the map. We got tired. I just don't think we're in good enough shape right now to play in the style that we want to play. LeBron (James) came out early. Kyrie (Irving) wanted to come out early. Kevin (Love) wanted to come out early."

Lue also shared via The Guardian that he does not intend to mollycoddle James. The new Cleveland Cavaliers head coach made it clear to King James that he plans to call him out whenever the team fails to perform up to their standards. He said, "I talked to 'Bron [James]. I told him: 'I got to hold you accountable. It starts with you first. And if I can hold you accountable in front of the team and doing the right things, then everybody else has got to fall in line, fall in place.'"

Meanwhile, James refuted the comment of Lue that the team is out of shape. Posting a selfie of himself following a workout session, King James vowed to perform better in the next games.

"I don't think I'm in bad shape at all, just need to get in better shape for what we want to do. I'm not that far off. I can get there in less than a week," said James of Lue's comments.

James' words were echoed by Love. According to the former Minnesota Timberwolves star, the Cleveland Cavaliers simply need to be more aggressive. However, this does not mean that they are not "in shape."

Love said, "I don't necessarily think we're out of shape but for how we want to push the ball after misses and makes and get guys in and out of the lineup and get different lineups out there, I think that we can stand to be in better shape. I wouldn't call us 'out of shape.'"

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