Gilbert Arenas believes Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant would have struggled to take the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers as far as LeBron James did, pointing specifically to the difference in how the three superstars dealt with their teammates.
Cleveland entered the 2016 playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season with a 57-25 record.
James played alongside a group that included Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson, and Matthew Dellavedova.
According to Arenas, LeBron’s patience was particularly important because it allowed teammates to continue playing aggressively even after making mistakes or missing shots.
“They would have got to the playoffs, but those guys wouldn’t have answered the call the same because they would have been afraid. You know, J.R. missed three, four shots.
“With LeBron, he’s going to take four or five more… They’d played with Kobe and wouldn’t have shot the ball at all. Like nah, here you go.”
Arenas’ argument is that playing alongside Jordan or Bryant could have caused some of Cleveland’s role players to become more hesitant after mistakes.
He believes James instead continued trusting teammates such as Smith to take their opportunities, even when shots were not falling.
That Cavaliers team eventually faced the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year. Golden State had completed a 73-win regular season and took a 3-1 advantage in the series.
Cleveland responded by winning the final three games, becoming the first team to erase a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals and securing the championship in Game 7.
