Today marks the beginning of LeBron James’ 10th playoffs, and the first time the Cleveland Cavaliers have participated since the King took his talents to Miami.
This version of the Cavaliers is loaded entering the playoffs — but with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and others lacking any playoff experience — James told ESPN.com that “it’s a little acary” entering game one vs the Celtics.
“I think from top to bottom, we’re just very balanced team and we have experience with youth, and I think that’s a great combination in the postseason,” James said this week as part of a wide-ranging sit-down interview with ESPN. “One thing that scares me a little bit is just us coming together for the first time, our experience.
“We have guys that have played experienced basketball, but then we have guys that we have to rely on a lot that haven’t played experienced basketball, and that’s Kevin Love, that’s Kyrie Irving, Matthew Dellavedova and Tristan Thompson that’ve never played a postseason game. So, that kind of scares me a little bit. But at the same time it scares me, [there is a feeling] of excitement as well, and not much of failure.
“I don’t fear failure in my teammates, but I fear just them never been a part of it. You can talk about the postseason. You can watch games of the postseason. You can clip it. You can watch film. But until you actually get out there, that’s the only way you can really understand what it’s about it.”