The Cleveland Cavaliers got their 2018 postseason underway on Sunday afternoon, which came with a slow start out of the gate. The Cavaliers had fallen into a quick hole that grew to 20 points in the second half.
This had drawn much criticism about the Cavaliers' chances to compete for a title. Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma threw some shade at Cleveland via social media comparing them to the 2007 version of the team that was shortly deleted after he tweeted it out.
This was the team that was able to reach the NBA Finals that was swept by the San Antonio Spurs. During that campaign, LeBron James had to carry the franchise through the playoffs behind his all-around play on the court. Kuzma's comments give off that perception that James is in another situation where he has to do it all just have some sort of postseason success.
At the same time, there are those that drew a line to him throwing some shade at his former teammate Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson, who are both key members of the roster. However, he shortly tweeted after a message of support for his former teammate.
Let’s go Nancy @Larrydn22
— kuz (@kylekuzma) April 15, 2018
Although this was a light-hearted comment from Kuzma, it shows that players around the league recognize the level of struggles that team has had in finding consistent help around James. He has been putting together one of the best campaigns of his career, but his teammates have had difficulty with providing a consistent offensive fire punch alongside him.
This coupled with the team's major defensive problems is quite concerning for the Cavaliers' chances of competing for an NBA title. There is only so much that James can do individually to lift his team to success. All of this simply falls on his teammates to do their part in order to have any realistic chance of reaching a fourth straight NBA Finals.
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