LeBron James SLAMMED: Cavs star made one monumental error against Warriors
LEBRON JAMES was just as at fault for the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 last week as J.R. Smith.
LeBron James in disbelief at JR Smith error in NBA Finals
That’s the strong opinion of ESPN analyst Max Kellerman after more video footage emerged of the Cavaliers bench after Game 1 went into overtime.
The defining image of the NBA Finals opening game at the Oracle Arena was a picture of James looking perplexed at Smith after the 32-year-old grabbed George Hill’s missed rebound, only to dribble the ball out instead of going for the bucket for the win.
The ensuing seconds was a mix of confusion among the Cavaliers bench and they were unable to get their head right for overtime with the Warriors taking a 1-0 lead.
But new footage of the Cavaliers bench before the start of overtime has shown James turning incredulous after finding out his team still had a timeout remaining.
And Kellerman has taken aim at the three-time NBA champion for not showing more support to Smith at a crucial period of the game.
“He messed up this time,” Kellerman said on ESPN show First Take.
“Not just because he didn’t know they had a time-out. Feel a little bit better about J.R. Smith for a second, J.R. at least came to the bench and sat down next to LeBron James.
“LeBron wouldn’t look at him or anything. J.R. Smith sat right there, LeBron didn’t know that there wasn’t a timeout.
“That would have helped but more than that, LeBron showed poor leadership there and I’m sure he knows that by now.
“When you have that attitude on the bench towards a guy who just messed up… remember you’ve still got to play in overtime.
“Is the point to try to show him that he messed up or try to win the game. You’ve got to try to pick your team-mate up there.
“I felt that way about J.R. that way in that moment… but if you’re LeBron James and you’re the leader, you have to get past that immediately.
“You’ve got to pick that guy up, not dwell on the negatives, but pick him up, move on and try to win in overtime.
“They were deflated and they saw their leader deflated and heartbroken and unable to get over it and unable to pick his guy up.
“It was he who didn’t know he had a timeout.”