Who knew that the acquisition of Timofey Mozgov saved the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James. Brian Windhorst tells a story of a depressed and “mopey” LeBron James literally quitting on the Cavs for two weeks.
Back when the Cavaliers were struggling to get above .500, LeBron James took that two-week break from the team in order to rejuvenate down in Miami. It may have had more to do with the team around him, and less to do with his achy knees.
SIMMONS: HAVE WE EVER FIGURED OUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN LEBRON TOOK THAT TWO WEEK HIATUS?
WINDHORST: WELL, HE WENT TO MIAMI AND SOMETHING HAPPENED…
SIMMONS: THE STORY IS HE HAD AN ACHY KNEE AND HE NEEDED SOME TIME OFF AND HE NEEDED HIS BODY TO RECOVER AND THEN HE WAS BACK AND HE LOOKED LIKE LEBRON AGAIN.
WINDHORST: I ALSO FEEL LIKE HE WAS ENERGIZED. [CAVS GM] DAVID GRIFFIN TELLS THE STORY: THEY WERE IN SAN FRANCISCO AND THEY HAD JUST TRADED FOR MOZGOV. HE SAID THAT LEBRON HAD BEEN MOPING FOR WEEKS, AND THERE WAS A GAME, BILL, AT THE END OF THE YEAR… IT WAS LEBRON’S BIRTHDAY, IT WAS DECEMBER 30TH. THEY WERE PLAYING IN ATLANTA. IT WAS BEFORE ATLANTA WENT ON THEIR 20-GAME WIN STREAK, SO IT WASN’T REALLY DEEMED A BIG GAME YET. AND THEY THOUGHT LEBRON WAS GOING TO PLAY, AND LEBRON JUST DECIDED, ‘I’M NOT GONNA PLAY.’ LIKE, AT THE LAST MINUTE, HE TOLD THEM, ‘I’M NOT PLAYING.’ DIDN’T EVEN COME OUT TO THE BENCH, JUST SAT IN THE BACK, DIDN’T COME OUT.”
THE PEOPLE ON THE CAVS WERE STUNNED. [JAMES] HAD SORT OF JUST LIKE WAVED A BIT OF A WHITE FLAG THERE. HE JUST DIDN’T FEEL LIKE PLAYING. HE HAD NEVER DONE THAT EVER BEFORE. HE HAD ALWAYS JUST PLAYED THROUGH IT. AND SO IT WAS AFTER THAT GAME, [THE CAVALIERS] SAID, ‘ALRIGHT, TAKE YOUR TWO WEEKS OFF,’ BECAUSE HE HAD REACHED A VERY LOW POINT.
SO HE HAD BEEN MOPING FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, AND WHEN THEY MADE THE TRADE WAS DURING LEBRON’S HIATUS, BUT HE WENT ON THEIR WEST COAST TRIP WITH THEM, HE WASN’T PLAYING YET, THEY WERE PLAYING AT GOLDEN STATE AND THEY WERE IN THE TEAM HOTEL AND IN WALKS TIMOFEY MOZGOV, AND HE ARRIVES. DAVID GRIFFIN TELLS THE STORY THAT LEBRON WAS SORT OF LEANING AGAINST THE WALL, SORT OF STILL MOPING, AND HE SAW MOZGOV AND HE JUST WAS LIKE, ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW BIG HE IS.’ OBVIOUSLY, HE HAD PLAYED AGAINST HIM A DOZEN TIMES, BUT HE WAS LIKE, ‘I JUST CAN’T BELIEVE HOW BIG HE IS.’ AND HE LIKE STRAIGHTENED UP. GRIFF TELLS THE STORY OF HOW LEBRON JUST STRAIGHTENED UP TO MEET HIM. HE CAME BACK LIKE FOUR OR FIVE DAYS LATER AGAINST PHOENIX AND LOOKED GREAT…
LeBron must have thought Mozgov was the next coming of Wilt. Cleveland went on a tear right after that first meeting.
