Everyone talks about how LeBron is a student of the game.
There have been great anecdotes from Brian Windhorst from post-game interviews and various media events where LeBron will just start rattling off things . . . like his ten favorite dunks in the history of the NBA, or the sickest components of any players' games - past or present.
In a recent game, a sportscaster (who, unfortunately, I can't pinpoint right now) talked about how Mike Brown told him that LeBron is such a game-film junkie, that he'll watch some games multiple times at home . . . and has an encyclopedic recollection of every play - whether it was great or a mistake.
The serious Cavs fan can pick up glimpses of this brilliance in some printed or recorded quotes, but without the ability to pick LeBron's brain, most casual fans are only familiar with the canned, rehearsed comments that LeBron makes on TV when Fox Sports Ohio's Jeff Phelps asks him, in mad-libs form:
"In the _____ quarter, the Cavs seemed to have _____ with the _____'s _____. How were you able to _____, so that you could _____ the _____? Yeah, the one thing about this team that's been so impressive this year, is that you guys come out with ______ and _____ every night. How do you do that night after night?"
But regardless of LeBron's tendency to volley dull answers back at dull questions . . . if you watch him play, his supreme understanding of basketball is undeniable. You can't be that good and not know what you're doing. (That's why it's really hard for me to buy the actual stupidity of too-successful publicity-whores like Spencer and Heidi Pratt.)
Fortunately, James' intellect is on display on the court. And although this may go without saying, he doesn't keep it to himself. He's the Cavs' on-court coach . . . and thanks to an overly sensitive hoop mic during the Cleveland / Memphis game on Tuesday, we heard an example of him teaching J.J. Hickson.
It happened just after halftime, with 10:00 to go in the third quarter. The Cavs . . . LeBron, J.J., Shaquille O'Neal, Anthony Parker, and Daniel Gibson . . . were playing air-tight help defense.
The shot clock was running down. With five seconds left, O.J. Mayo tossed the ball to Zach Randolph who drove to the basket and made a lay-in over a Shaq / J.J. wall.
But there was a problem.
When Mayo had the ball, J.J. came off Randolph to help. When Randolph got it back, J.J. overcompensated on the recovery, and was positioned just in front of Randolph, off his right side.
Randolph drove left, with Hickson running alongside him sealing off his right side. Just before he reached Shaq, Randolph shot the ball softly with his left hand. It went in with three seconds on the shot clock.
After the play, LeBron glared at J.J. and yelled: "No left! No left hand! Make his ass go right, (g-dammit)! J.J.!"
Now, that's some coaching that J.J.'s going to remember. It's one thing to have Mike Brown lecture you about something several plays after the fact . . . or to pull you from the game for a general lack of focus. But if you have LeBron James barking that loudly in your ear about how you just ruined 21 seconds of lockdown defense . . . that's being branded into your head.
This isn't a nit-picking knock on J.J. He's learning . . . and, in my opinion, coming along pretty well. This stuff isn't a walk in the park. The Cavs have an elite defense that takes a lot of time and effort to fully understand, execute and maintain. No. This is about LeBron.
Everyone knows that LeBron is a general on the floor. He's constantly talking with his teammates, and pointing around, instructing various cuts, rotations, passes, shots and picks. And if you've been close enough to the action, you may even know what he's saying.
But there's something really comforting in knowing that he's actually teaching and reminding others of the game plan and scouting reports.
That's why I think he and Mike Brown are perfect together. Mike prepares the team, and coaches the games; LeBron makes sure there are results on the floor. Neither get in each others' way. LeBron is a coachable player, and Mike . . . well, he's flexible. He knows that when LeBron is taking over, LeBron is taking over, and whatever "play" he draws up has to have room for the spontaneity involved with, yes, LeBron taking over.
And let me remind you: This is February . . . the beginning of February . . . and LeBron is coaching J.J. with 10:00 left to go in the third quarter of a home game at a point when the Cavs were up by 18 points! That's saying something.
So did J.J. sulk when the King called him out? Nope. He worked harder.
On the ensuing Cavs possession, LeBron tossed the ball in to Shaq, who lost it while making his move. Then, out of nowhere, J.J. slipped in on the weakside, from behind two defenders, grabbed the ball out of Randolph's hands, and (in seemingly the same motion) acrobatically laid it up for two easy points.
Two possessions later, LeBron looked for J.J. under the basket, but the pass was deflected by the Grizzlies. Then, two possessions after that, LeBron, with the ball, cut through the middle of the paint. The defense collapsed and he was essentially being quadruple-teamed.
So, he lightly tossed the ball up to a baseline-cutting J.J. for the alley-oop . . . and he threw it down, in traffic, hard. Wham, with the right hand! Literally. And as they ran back down the court together, LeBron high-fived J.J. (That was LeBron's 10th assist.)
And two possessions after that . . . (am I discovering a secret pattern here?) . . . J.J. was running the floor and LeBron sent him a no-look pass from half-court. J.J. dribbled it once, and threw the hammer down! Again, literally. (That was LeBron's 11th assist.)
That's four minutes on the court with LeBron and J.J.
A lot of superstars walk the walk. They know their own games in and out. They know the games of the guys that will be guarding them . . . and the guys they'll be guarding. But do they all really make their teammates better? Do they really push their teams to improve?
It isn't just passing the ball to an open teammate so they can knock down a shot. That doesn't make anyone better. It makes their stats better, but NBA players should be able to hit open shots. And they should get the opportunity to shoot when they are open.
Like just knowing when your team needs you to score 40 points isn't pushing them to improve. The team may win the game, but what did they learn from that . . . other than that they can be bailed out.
No, a real superstar can make their teammates better with plays that create situations for their teammates to utilize their strengths. It's coaching them on when to be aggressive, how to work together, how to play an opponent, and where to be to help put another teammate in a position for him to be successful.
It's being vocal. It's being tough. And it's being supportive.
That is part of how you make your teammates better, and how you push your team to improve. It's a big component of LeBron James' game.
And it should also be a necessary attribute of an MVP.
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