James, who has coined his social media blackout “Zero Dark 23”, took some early steps toward sharpening his focus by unfollowing the Cavaliers’ account – and those of some media members – on Twitter.
Advertisement
James has not been happy with the way the Cavs have been playing lately, as they only hold a 1.5 game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Stephen Curry [Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images]Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have struggled tremendous to adapt from being franchise players to being sidekicks for LeBron James.
James’ unfollowing of the Cavs was sort of a preamble, the source said. LeBron led the way for the Cavs with 11 assists, and was helped by Matthew Dellavedova (7), JR Smith (5) and Iman Shumpert (4).
The four-time NBA MVP had a classic LeBron game; he posted a triple-double in the Cavaliers’ 124-91 rout of the Nuggets.
The game was essentially over after three quarters, and James left to an ovation with six minutes remaining after securing his second triple-double of the season and the 41st of his career.
James was aggressive from the outset and finished the first quarter with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. However, it is uncertain if he previously followed the team’s Instagram account or not.
That said, it’s also easy to understand why Cavs fans might be on edge.
It’s hard to imagine a team in first-place in March would have this many questions surrounding their newly-signed star player, but with rumors circulating of rampant fundamental disagreements between LeBron and Kyrie Irving, this only adds fuel to the fire.
So take James’ unfollow however you want, but even if we give him the benefit of the doubt and say this was unintentional, he had to know this would not go unnoticed. Will Barton scored 27 for the Nuggets. Of course, just his mere mention that “all” is not bad at least implies that there has been “some” bad for a team that boasts the highest payroll in the league and one of the highest of all-time.
“We got our butts kicked”, Malone said. James unfollowed about 14 accounts recently – a lot of them NBA and basketball-related – simply to block out distractions and prepare for the playoffs without the noise of social media in the background.
Only James truly knows the answer to why he unfollowed the Cavs.
The Nuggets trailed by eight at the half. He is having another All-Star season, averaging over 24 points a game. The Cleveland defense has slipped significantly since Tyronn Lue took over as head coach, but Lue said Monday the Cavs are going to simplify things.
Advertisement
During the interview with Allie Clifton of FOX Sports, he mentioned how he felt like a “loser” and hadn’t won much referring back to his time with the Orlando Magic.
