In his new book, Shaq says LeBron James never really listened to Mike Brown when the two were with the Cavs.
Hoops World posted an excerpt from the book posted that describes a scene where the Cavs were watching film of a game. LeBron is seen not getting back on defense after a shot, but Mike Brown supposedly didn’t say anything. The next play Mo Williams made the same mistake and Brown called him out for it. At that point, Delonte West, another guard on the team, is said to have stood up and asked why it was ignored when LeBron made the same mistake.
“Hold up, now. You can’t be pussyfooting around like that. Everyone has to be accountable for what they do, not just some us,” West supposedly said.
Mike Brown responded, “I know, Delonte. I know.” Mike knew Delonte was right. …”
The book goes on to say that LeBron never really listened to Mike Brown and that Kobe will definitely be in charge of Brown with the Lakers.
A superstar receiving superstar treatment? Can’t say I’m surprised by that. Team owner Dan Gilbert reportedly set the standard that nobody was supposed to criticize LeBron. The Cavs were so fearful of losing him in free agency that they let him run the show. They ended up losing him anyway, so the strategy did not work.
It was frequently said that LeBron needed a coach who would stand up to him. People wondered if Erik Spoelstra was the coach who could do that. Early on, it looked like LeBron had little respect for Spoelstra, but that may have changed. The important thing is having an owner who supports the coach standing up to the player. If a coach doesn’t have that support, he’ll be fired. Why? Because in the NBA, the star players are bigger than the coaches, so many coaches are fearful of their star players.
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