Mike Brown vs Lebron James

[MMacOH]

Listening to the radio this morning it was brought up that Mike Brown may be diagraming plays in the huddle and then Lebron takes it upon himself to dribble for 20 seconds at the top of the key and decide to keep the ball himself instead of running the play. 

One of the Cavs beat reporters basically confirmed that Lebron has been known to do this on occassion.

Really shows that he zero respect for his coach.  I am in no way a Mike Brown supporter, his in game adjustments, substitutions, etc. leave a lot to be desired, but you still always listen to your coach.

[2short]

Listening to the radio this morning it was brought up that Mike Brown may be diagraming plays in the huddle and then Lebron takes it upon himself to dribble for 20 seconds at the top of the key and decide to keep the ball himself instead of running the play. 

One of the Cavs beat reporters basically confirmed that Lebron has been known to do this on occassion.

Really shows that he zero respect for his coach.  I am in no way a Mike Brown supporter, his in game adjustments, substitutions, etc. leave a lot to be desired, but you still always listen to your coach.

zero respect would be dancing when team is in a huddle
wait he does that also?

[Donoghus]

This is a battle that the coach has no chance of winning.  

I agree that its a slap in the face to Brown and shows zero respect on behalf of James but, in today's NBA, the star player always wins these battles.  If he really wants to, Lebron can use this as serious leverage with his impending free agency.  "Get rid of Brown or see you later".

[MMacOH]

This is a battle that the coach has no chance of winning.  

I agree that its a slap in the face to Brown and shows zero respect on behalf of James but, in today's NBA, the star player always wins these battles.  If he really wants to, Lebron can use this as serious leverage with his impending free agency.  "Get rid of Brown or see you later".

So true.  Unfortunately for Mike Brown, he has made major mistakes in the past (Orlando series being his most recent), and has management looking very closely at him.  Any bold move he would make to try and punish Lebron (i.e. benching him), would get him shipped out immediately. 

Also, I think it is more that Brown gives Lebron the option to run the play he diagrams or to just do his own thing

[Roy Hobbs]

This is a battle that the coach has no chance of winning.  

I agree that its a slap in the face to Brown and shows zero respect on behalf of James but, in today's NBA, the star player always wins these battles.  If he really wants to, Lebron can use this as serious leverage with his impending free agency.  "Get rid of Brown or see you later".

Yep.  Star players hold all of the power.  What's Brown going to do, bench him?

[fairweatherfan]

Not a huge surprise unfortunately.  You could sense some of the tension between LeBron (and some of his teammates) and Brown with the whole benching Z debacle.  I get the strong feeling that barring a title this year (not gonna happen), it'll either be Brown or LeBron back next season, but no way it'll be both.

[fairweatherfan]

I will add though that lots of players do this - how many times have we seen Doc in the huddle imploring the guys to "run the plays I call!"  There's a lot of freelancing in the NBA. 

[jdpapa3]

I think this is a common thing in the NBA. There was a story this year that Pierce convinced Doc to just let them run the play they did before, instead of the one Doc had just drawn up.

You kind of feel for Mike Brown here. He is in between a rock and a hard place.

[housecall]

 the King will win every time,lol

[Greenbean]

I have always said that LeBron needs someone who can challenge him. Brown just doesn't have this presence. Does this mean leBron would stop breaking plays if say Larry Brown was his coach? Absolutely not, but Mike Brown has been kissing LeBron's throne since he ebcame his coach and he now has zero 'spect from LeBron. It's kind of crazy to think about but I think other coaches (Brown, Stan Van, Phil Jackson, Doc) could get LeBron to take his game to another level.

[ToppersBsktball10]

This is a battle that the coach has no chance of winning.  

I agree that its a slap in the face to Brown and shows zero respect on behalf of James but, in today's NBA, the star player always wins these battles.  If he really wants to, Lebron can use this as serious leverage with his impending free agency.  "Get rid of Brown or see you later".

Yep.  Star players hold all of the power.  What's Brown going to do, bench him?

Honestly, if I'm Mike Brown I do that. if he pulls it again, pull him out of the game. If it continues bench him for a game or two. Mike Brown would earn my respect. But to risky of a move, doubt that would happen.

[nickagneta]

In Lebron's defense(this is the second thread in a row I am defending Lebron. I think I need to go get sick as all this defending of him is making me nauseous), he probably should be ignoring Mike Brown's drawn up plays as I think the man is clueless when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.

[Fafnir]

In Lebron's defense(this is the second thread in a row I am defending Lebron. I think I need to go get sick as all this defending of him is making me nauseous), he probably should be ignoring Mike Brown's drawn up plays as I think the man is clueless when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.

If the best player on the team doesn't respect the coach, no one on the team will. That's not a recipe for championship basketball.

[scoop]

LeBron's tendency to dominate the ball too much, especially at the end of the games, as been one of Cleveland's weaknesses for awhile (especially because he dribbles 18 seconds off the clock and than fires a jump-shot from the top of the key or attempts a dribble drive into a packed lane). Someone should make LeBron understand that maybe there are better options.

That said, it remains unclear to me that those other options are indeed better.

[KJ33]

This is a battle that the coach has no chance of winning.  

I agree that its a slap in the face to Brown and shows zero respect on behalf of James but, in today's NBA, the star player always wins these battles.  If he really wants to, Lebron can use this as serious leverage with his impending free agency.  "Get rid of Brown or see you later".

All the more reason to respect Doc and Pierce.  Doc really asked Paul to change his game and find his shot within Doc's offense when he first became the coach.  Things got tense for a bit, including Doc taking Paul out and Paul showing extreme displeasure on his face.  I guess you could make the case that Paul is not a "star player" but for the C's at the time, he was as close to a star that the C's had.  Now the two of them are almost always on the same page, and Paul's game has clearly gotten better under Doc's tutelage.