Let's not get it twisted - the Cleveland Cavaliers, as of right now, do suck. People are attributing this primarily to the construction of the superteam that is the Golden State Warriors, but being super doesn't make you invincible.
2004 USA BASKETBALL
I remember watching in glee/horror as Team USA Basketball got their asses handed to them by Argentina in the 2004 Summer Olympics. I also recall that for some inexplicable reason Coach Larry Brown refused to give Lebron significant minutes during those games. Whereas it may not have shown statistically, with LBJ only averaging six points and three rebounds, in the games I saw it was obvious when he was on the court that James was better than everyone else.
Reportedly LBJ's minutes were limited in Athens due to being "not 100 percent receptive", and if that was the case Coach Brown must be one of the greatest disciplinarians in the history of coaches to have been willing to sacrifice the then-untarnished name of USA Basketball just to teach a hard-headed youngster what was perhaps a much-needed lesson. Well just like the great Michael Jordan can remember every time someone has slighted him on the court, in a slightly-similar fashion this injustice must be also still be stuck in the craw of Lebron James, because he basically did the same thing to Andrew Wiggins.
SKILL vs. STRENGTH
Now don't get me wrong - trading virtually any player for Kevin Love, especially a rookie (Anthony Bennett was virtually a non-factor in the deal) and especially a couple of years ago, is hard to argue against. But at the time something about LBJ forcing that trade just didn't seem right. Looking at the situation purely from the standpoint of trying to put together the best team I think at the time - and to some extent even to this day - one can rationalize choosing Love over Wiggins. But this boils down to what is the more-valuable commodity in athletics - strength or skill?
It's of particular interest in this case that Lebron chose skill (win now) over athleticism (take longer to win perhaps) because he's considered by many the all-around best player in NBA history not because of his skill set but rather primarily his physical attributes, like him being born taller, faster and stronger than everybody else has absolutely nothing to do with his work ethic. In 2004 I don't remember LBJ dribbling and shooting; I remember him being faster, stronger and more energetic than everyone else, teammate and opponent alike.
CONCLUSION: THEN vs. NOW
LBJ forcing Kevin Love to the Cavs in 2014 proved to be a savvy move, because the next season Cleveland won its first NBA Championship ever. But since then it's like the braintrust of the Cavs have been stuck in a time warp where they're convinced aging, skilled players are superior to younger, stronger ones, even if you can get two or three of the latter for the price of one of the former - like they're the Knicks or something. If anything recent history should show that Love is still valuable yet to some degree expendable (if they can find someone who rebounds consistently) to Cleveland, and if they were smart would go shopping for youth this offseason, even if it means losing Kevin. I don't think it was wrong to try to repeat with him on the roster, but you can't then go out and chase players like Kyle Korver and Deron Williams and expect your defense to hold up against the Warriors now featuring KD. At the end of the day, no matter how you cut it, dominance in athletics, particularly when you're on the field at the same time as your opponent, is traditionally based more on athleticism than it is on skill, experience or popularity.
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