NBA champion and former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate of LeBron James, Richard Jefferson, was a guest on ESPN’s “Get Up” show with Mike Greenberg this morning. During the episode, Jefferson stated LeBron would be extremely motivated this season by the various storylines we’ve heard over the last several months questioning his place among the handful of truly elite players in the game. Coming off a disappointing first year with the Los Angeles Lakers, RJ went on to add that he expects James to “destroy as many people as possible this season.”
“LeBron James will be the best player in basketball again,” Jefferson said. “Now, will he be the LeBron James from ’08, chasing down blocks–no. But he is going to do so many different things. And with Kyle Kuzma and Anthony Davis on his team, he’s going to be able to be that dominant guy again.
“I think he understands the disrespect. He’s felt it over the course of his career at different levels. Now, it’s you’re old, you had your first injury. Now you’re not that guy anymore. But I think really and truly, he’s more focused on proving to people that basketball is the most important thing to him. And the only way to do that is to go and destroy as many people as possible.”
This will be the first season for LeBron in well over a decade where he’s had both a postseason and a summer to rest and recover from the daily rigors of the NBA grind. Missing the playoffs and not participating in USA Basketball this offseason may very well position James for the type of season that Jefferson is referencing. There really couldn’t be any more motivation available for the King at the moment, either. After hearing his greatness questioned as many times as we have over the last year, we can expect LeBron to be as locked in as ever when the season finally tips off.
