Although LeBron James only went back to Cleveland this past offseason, it is now a very distant memory for most that he was with the Miami Heat last season and won two championships with them overall.
Simply put, most are over it and accept the fact that he decided to go back home.
There is one guy with the Heat organization who is still scratching his head about James’ decision, though, and his name is Alonzo Mourning.
Mourning explained his feelings on James’ departure and provided his take on Kevin Love’s situation with the Cavaliers, from Adam Figman of SLAM Online:
AM: First of all, Spo knows the culture—it’s just a matter of getting the guys to come in and buy into it. We had a great team for four years straight, and the reason why we had a great team was not just because we had the best player on the planet, it’s because we had the best team that bought into a culture. Everybody bought into this culture. After going to the Finals four years like that, I find it very difficult for individuals like we had to stop buying into the culture that got you four straight NBA Finals appearances. How do you stop buying into that? If you got there four years in a row, why not get back there four more times? And then four more times? Why not get back there 10 years in a row? It’s doable. And Pat Riley wasn’t gonna stop bringing pieces in to complement, you know? So why walk away from a dynasty?
SLAM: You gotta ask LeBron.
AM: [Laughs] Yeah. That’s the question. Why walk away from a dynasty when you have to go somewhere and rebuild, basically? Then you’ve got Kevin Love, who’s not happy at all. He’s outta there.
SLAM: It’s just different priorities, right? It’s the mindset that the NBA Championship isn’t everything, that there’s more to it than that.
AM: Evidently. It had to be. It’s very difficult to even think about walking away from something like that. How do you walk away?
SLAM: Where do you think Kevin Love is going to go? LA?
AM: I think he’s probably going to go to LA. I could see that.
Only James knows what made him decide to leave and it probably wasn’t all simply basketball-related reasons, although there was plenty to think about in that regard as well after getting humiliated by the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals.
What’s more interesting about Mourning’s take is about Love. Where is he getting the information about the power forward from? How does he know that Love is unhappy and that he may be targeting the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason? It’s easy to speculate, especially the idea that Love may not be happy with a lesser role on the Cavaliers, but those are some really strong statements that Mourning provided.
It sounds like an opinion/assumption more than anything else, but it’s still intriguing to hear such a strong take from Mourning, who isn’t exactly known for making headline-worthy statements. Although there isn’t any official word on Love’s true state of mind, there has to be some truth to the idea that he’s not completely happy with being a distant third option on the team. Mourning is certainly not alone in believing this, so interesting times will surely follow for James, Love and company in Cleveland once the season is over.
OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE:
It appears Al Harrington has officially retired from the NBA, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post: “Sixteen years in the NBA can be a blur, Al Harrington can attest to that. He lived it. On Wednesday, he recounted near two-decades worth of just sheer fun, allowing the words that put an end to things kick off the conversation. He sat courtside at the Toyota Center after helping out during a Nuggets practice, and finally said it. “I’m officially retired,” Harrington said. “I don’t know if there’s paperwork that I gotta fill out or anything. But my career is over.”… “I’m very happy with what I was able to accomplish,” Harrington said. “I was able to change a lot of people’s lives in my family, including myself in a game that I eventually fell in love with and will always be in love with. And hopefully I can stay around the game until I die. It was a fun ride. It went by fast, too. It was like one minute I was 18, the next I was 25 then was 30 and now I’m 35. It was a fun run. Met a lot of great people.”
- Dwight Howard may be close to returning to action, according to Mark Berman of Fox:
Dwight Howard said he’s “pretty close” to returning. Jokingly said. “It’s a secret” when asked if he knows when he’ll return.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) March 18, 2015
Players on the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t really missed games to rest (other than LeBron James early in the season), but David Blatt decided to make an exception for Kevin Love, for some reason. Bob Finnan of The News-Herald has details: “Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love said his two-game absence had nothing to do with his back. He said Cavaliers coach David Blatt approached him and asked him to sit out those two games for rest purposes. “That’s all it was,” Love said. “I had been playing heavy minutes. I feel good. Any time you take off a couple games, a couple days, you come back feeling better.” Earlier in the season, Love had been bothered by back spasms. “Me resting had nothing to do with my back,” Love said. Blatt said after monitoring his players, it was his decision to rest Love.” “I talked to him, and he expressed he was a little tired and beaten up,” Blatt said. “I made the decision to sit him. I saw the opportunity and need, and I decided to sit him down.”
Greg Oden is reportedly in fantastic shape and it may not be out of the question for him to make another comeback attempt in the NBA, from ASAP Sports: “COACH MATTA: I tell you what Greg is doing right now, he’s probably been six months of high-level conditioning, training in the weight room, working out on the court. Our coaches work him out. I think he’s right now trying to gauge how the body feels. There is a possibility he may make another run at it. He looks great. Probably about 280 pounds right now. I mean, quite honestly I haven’t seen Greg look this good since when he played for us back in the day at Ohio State. Like I said, his attitude is off the charts. He went through a lot. You look at Greg’s life, how difficult things have been. I know that he is a kid that never wanted to let people down. The injuries, you know, none of us can prevent those. I know there’s part of him that wishes that stuff couldn’t have happened. I still swear he was going to be one of the greatest to ever play in the NBA just from the year I was with him.”
- The Atlanta Hawks may soon have Thabo Sefolosha back in the rotation, from Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Thabo Sefolosha competed in three-on-three work following Hawks shootaround Wednesday, a sign the guard/forward is close to a return from a calf injury. Sefolosha has missed the past 20 games due to a Grade 3 strain of his right calf suffered against the Trail Blazers on Jan. 30. The original diagnosis called for Sefolosha to miss 6 to 8 weeks. Last week Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said Sefolosha is “making the progress that we expect.” He indicated that the guard/forward still had to progress from one-on-one and two-on-two before the final step of three-on-three work.”
- Nick Young received some bad news about his ailing knee, from Arash Markazi of ESPN LA: “Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young has a small fracture in his left knee cap and will be re-evaluated on a weekly basis, the team announced Wednesday. It is expected that the fracture will heal on its own with rest and Young will make a complete recovery but it is not yet clear if he be able to play again this season. Young has missed the last 11 games with a swollen left knee and has no played since the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 118-111 on Feb. 22. “Nothing,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said when asked what Young was able to do at practice. “He signed some autographs, went back in and got some treatment and that was about it.”
- On a lighter note, Young and Byron Scott took shots at each other on Wednesday. About each other’s hair:
Byron Scott on Nick Young’s hair. “Thats not a hairdo, that’s a lost bet.” — Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2015
Byron Scott on Nick Young’s hair “It looks like a bunch of worms up there.” — Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2015
Nick Young on Byron Scott criticizing his hair. “People with no hair wouldn’t understand.” — Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2015
Nick Young on his hair: “I was at home watching Booty Call and I said Jaime Foxx has a nice haircut I want to try. That was the inspiration” — Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2015
Who wore it better? pic.twitter.com/Mb22g96fwv — Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 18, 2015
Jim Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.