It’s an easy argument to make over the past few weeks that LeBron James’ former Cleveland Cavaliers squad is having a lot more fun at the office than his current Lakers squad.
The Lakers officially joined Cleveland last night as a playoff spectator, but their recent play has been considerably worse than the Cavs.
The Cavs have gone 7-8 since the All-Star break with a top-10 offense, riding high on the return of Kevin Love and the best stretch of ball by point guard Collin Sexton in his young career.
In a piece revisiting the destiny of both teams, Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson told The Athletic’s Joe Vardon that it’s partially due to the example left behind by James.
“Character-wise, everyone here gets an ‘A,’” the Cavs’ Tristan Thompson said. “It would be easy for us to show up and lay down, but that’s not what (owner) Dan (Gilbert) is paying us for, that’s not what ’Bron taught us while he was here.”
While the Cavs won’t end with a better record than the Lakers, they also dealt with a great deal of adversity throughout the season.
It would have been easy, as it was the first time LeBron left, to pack it in but they are playing spirited ball in a way the Lakers and their fans are would dream of.
