Cavaliers F LeBron James echoes Aaron Rodgers, says to 'relax'
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James followed in the footsteps of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and took to Twitter to tell all those worried about the Cavaliers' slow start to "relax."
With the Packers off to a 1-2 start in September and their offense struggling, Rodgers addressed the team's fanbase during a radio interview, saying, "Relax. We're going to be OK." Green Bay promptly won four straight games while averaging 36.3 points per game and is now in second place in the NFC North.
James is also facing scrutiny for Cleveland's disappointing start, which has seen the team go 1-3 over the first week and a half of the season after a 102-100 loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
When James signed with the Cavaliers in the offseason and the team promptly traded for Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love, Cleveland was expected to immediately become a title contender, with that pair joining fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving and several other key contributors.
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But James' long anticipated return to Cleveland in the team's season opener Oct. 30 was ruined by the New York Knicks, who defeated the Cavaliers 95-90.
After a bounce-back win over the fellow title contender Chicago Bulls the next night, the Cavaliers were blown out 101-82 by the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday before losing again in the second game of their three-game Western Conference road trip.
After the loss to the Trail Blazers, James spoke about his younger teammates needing to develop more of a winning attitude. After the loss to Utah, in which Cleveland had just six assists as a team, James talked about potentially needing to be more aggressive if the team is going to win.
In Cleveland's first two losses, James scored just a combined 28 points, shot 33.3 percent from the field and had just eight free throw attempts. In the team's win over the Bulls and the narrow loss to the Jazz, James scored a combined 67 points, shot 45.8 percent and had 21 free throw attempts.
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Overall, James is averaging 23.8 points, which would be his lowest season-ending total since his rookie season.
The Cavaliers end their road trip with a game against the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
- Ben Estes
