Former NBA player Iman Shumpert got to play alongside LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it proved to be an interesting experience. During an appearance on the Out The Mud podcast, Shumpert explained James’ tactics to hold his teammates accountable.
“Bron kind of holds you accountable,” Shumpert said. “Like, I’m going to throw a turnover if you’re not in the spot I told you to be. I’m going to throw a blind pass over my head, and if you not there I’mma tell coach to take you out… And he going to show it to you five, 10 times. Tell the video guy to send it to you.
“When we do film tomorrow,” Shumpert stated. “He going to get up and say, ‘No, this what I was saying. This what I was doing.’… It was times I was blue. Like, ‘Shorty, you should have threw that ball to me.’ And then he explain it on the tape, and I see it. Like, why would he throw that ball to me? He got his shoulder past that n***a. I’m not throwing that ball to me.
“I’m going to dunk that b***h,” Shumpert continued. “It’s just this n***a happened to play perfect defense and come in there for a charge that they called for him. But I’m not passing that either. I would have thought my shoulder’s past him. I won. In the game, though, I’m like blue. You bogus. Oh my god, you trying to ice me. Why you won’t pass to me? Trying to get my game on.
“But it was like once you see the tape, you be like, ‘Damn, Joe, you right,” Shumpert added.
That shows what separated James from most. His basketball IQ is off the charts, and it allowed him to see things on the court that his teammates could not. If that ball didn’t come your way, there was a good reason for it. If he wanted you to be at a particular spot on the court, there was a good reason for it. If you weren’t there, well, get ready to go to the bench after getting blamed for a turnover.
Shumpert would end up playing three and a half seasons with James on the Cavaliers. They notably won a championship together in 2016 by taking down the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. There was no time for those Cavaliers players to rest on their laurels, though.
“That’s the mental battle when playing with Bron,” Shumpert said. “You’re always in a win-now situation. You always, every year… This n***a’s 41, and people are asking every day, ‘Do you feel like they’re contenders?… It’s like, if it was just Luka [Doncic] over there, would y’all be doing this? Literally ’cause this n***a is standing over there, they are contenders. That’s insane to think about.
“But it’s like people don’t think about the pressure,” Shumpert continued. “As I saw other players go through it, when Russell Westbrook went over there, and they was like, ‘Oh, Russ just lost it.’ I’m like, ‘No, he’s playing with LeBron.’ It’s a different game. People don’t understand that. A lot of people can’t adjust their game to that. And it’s like, if you can understand that, you can play on anybody team, gang.
“The reason why Kyrie [Irving] so cold to me is ’cause he was able to function on a team with Bron,” Shumpert added. “You know how cold you got to be like for that? Both of y’all ball-dominating. It’s insane.”
James and Kyrie Irving were a great match. Unfortunately, they were only together for three seasons on the Cavaliers. Irving wanted out in 2017 and was traded to the Boston Celtics. There have been rumors about these two trying to link up again in the years that followed, but it doesn’t look like we’ll see them on the same team ever again.
We don’t know for sure if James is going to keep playing. He is set to become a free agent and could choose to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers, go to another team, or retire.
