At the conclusion of Thursday night’s dramatic Game 6 between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, there was an inexplicable moment of stillness.

Being married into a family Cleveland natives, I was surprised not to receive any calls or emails discussing the anti-climatic ending to the Cavs’ season.  Maybe I shouldn’t have been.  But if you listened close enough, I think the moment of stillness was actually connected to that hardworking, blue-collared city in northern Ohio – and its fans who have been waiting to exhale for decades.

The wait continues.

But how could this have happened?  How could the team with the NBA’s best player for the last two – possibly three – seasons get booted from the playoffs in such a careless fashion?  Isn’t the team with the NBA’s best regular season record supposed to make it past the second round of the playoffs?

Two words – executive management.

But what about the players?  What about the coaches?  The sentiments of poor play from MVPs, and non-dynamic coaching have been expressed across the Internet – and have increased at an exponential rate since LeBron’s lethargic Game 5 performance against the Celtics.  That type of feeling can be seen in the following email comment from my boy, G-Money:

The reality is that we’re dealing with an issue of $ rather than an issue of pride of winning an NBA championship.  LeBron wants to be a billionaire and the NBA championship is just another trophy to him.  If this wasn’t the case, MJ should have had a $200 million dollar contract and not played with the flu to score 40+ points or Isaiah Thomas should have had his own clothing line and not played on a hurt ankle to score 25+ points.

He continues by saying:

If there was true loyalty to Cleveland with the presence that LBJ has, he would be the force behind securing players that would defy the above.  However, only time will reveal the motive.

He’s right.  Only time will reveal the true motive.

Four years ago, Cleveland was happy having the guy who was on his way to being the best player in the league.  But then James decided not to sign a max length deal.  Suddenly, the timeline for organizational success increased rapidly, and the flustered Cavs began to make moves.  Good moves…bad moves…any move made it seem like they were working to bring the King what he wanted.

Does LeBron want to win a championship any less than Kobe Bryant?  I doubt that highly.  They are both hard-working, once in a generation-type players.  What separates the two?  Why is Kobe still in the playoff hunt, while James has been rudely dismissed?

Teammates.  Coaching.  In other words, executive management.

Let’s compare and contrast the moves made by the respected team’s of the two best players in the game. 

Teammates

When you look at L.A., the first thing you have to respect is their patience.  After tasting great success around the turn of the new millennium, the organization went through a serious dry spell.  That spell included two first-round playoff exits and a year where they missed the playoffs entirely.  But through all of the Smush Parker’s, Chris Mihm’s and Slava Medvedenko’s, the Lakers’ management kept its focus on a long-term goal of bringing title aspirations back to Los Angeles.  They even weathered the storm of Kobe Bryant’s profanity-laced tirade urging the franchise to trade young seven-footer Andrew Bynum for an aging, wife-beating Jason Kidd. 

You see, Bryant – the NBA’s star player at the time – was not pampered by an organization that stood fast in what it held to be true. 

The championship potential continued to build in early 2008, as Pau Gasol was traded to the Lakers for peanuts (peanuts = Kwame Brown + Jarvis Crittenton + Aaron McKie + Marc Gasol + 2 first round draft picks).  Upon Gasol’s arrival, the Lakers also had a matured Andrew Bynum, a still-versatile Lamar Odom, a hungry Derek Fisher and an athletic Trevor Ariza to surround Bryant.  It was obviously title time just a year later.

Did the Cavaliers have the same patience and discernment in surrounding James with the right cast?

The Danny’s (owner Daniel Gilbert and GM Danny Ferry) seemed to lack both elements when it came to their acquisition of liabilities (you certainly cannot call these players assets).  The biggest splashes that Cleveland made was bringing Shaquille O’Neal to the midwest and swiping Antawn Jamison from Washington.  Shaq has been over the hill for the past 3 seasons.  His feet are anchored to the ground, unless you put some Cheetos on the rim.  Antawn Jamison is noted for his array of awkward-looking shots.  What that really means is that he can and will get up a shot in any situation – even when he shouldn’t.  And ’Tawn’s defense enabled Kevin Garnett to turn back the clock, and it gave Boston a sure-fire option in the paint.

For a team that supposedly thrived on a defensive style of play, it’s other big acquisition – Mo Williams – did nothing but allow Rajon Rondo to do whatever he wanted to do. 

These three acquisitions may have done more harm than good – especially when playoff time came calling.

Coaching

Kobe has Phil Jackson.  LeBron has Mike Brown.  Well, he had Mike Brown.  In what would be one of the quickest cannings in history, a coach who was just eliminated from the Conference Semifinals is probably going to be given the boot.  That’s what failing to stand up to the NBA’s best player for the good of the team will do to you.  Especially when the results are unspectacular.

The Lakers look motivated.  As a unit, the Cavs lacked motivation in at least three of their final series’ six games.  James seemed to lack intensity in the now infamous Game 5.

Phil Jackson makes adjustments that improve the effectiveness of his team.  I’ve seen Mike Brown adjust the belt loop on his pants, but that doesn’t directly improve the team.

Jackson allows his primary offensive weapon to receive the ball in positions that enable him to attack quickly and efficiently.  Brown allows his primary offensive weapon to toy with the ball for 15 seconds before he signals for a clear-out or pick-and-roll.

Brown’s biggest problem was not assuming control of his team – or should I say, LeBron’s team.  Wired segments reveal Brown deferring to LBJ far too often during time out huddles.  Insiders also inform us that James provides the vast majority of input on how to attack the defensive schemes of other teams.

Perhaps Cleveland could have saved some head coach money by letting LeBron coach and keeping the assistants on board. 

Instead of giving LeBron what he needed, they gave him what he wanted. 

Now, Cleveland will have to wait and see if LeBron wants them.

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Tags: Cavs, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, LeBron James, Mike Brown, Phil Jackson