LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots against Henry Sims #14 of the Brooklyn Nets during their game at the Barclays Center on March 24, 2016 in New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James has vowed to lead from the front after receiving a stern talking to from coach Tyronn Lue about his recent conduct, reports said Friday.
The Cavs have suffered jarring defeats to the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets in the past week, triggering a bout of soul-searching in the Cleveland set-up as they prepare for the postseason.
James has been in the spotlight after he was seen laughing and joking with former Miami teammate Dwyane Wade as the Cavs trailed by 21 points to the Heat at half-time last Saturday.
Cleveland coach Lue said he had registered his displeasure at James’ conduct during a meeting with the player.
“I just told him we can’t have that, being down like we were and him being the leader,” Lue told Cleveland.com.
“Just me being a competitor, I didn’t like it. We had a long talk about it. It was good. He understood, he apologized, and he’s been great.”
Lue did not go into further detail about the nature of the discussion but said James had responded positively.
“We talked about it, and now my focus is on winning games going forward. LeBron is the leader of this team. We had a great talk, and that’s it,” Lue said.
In the three Cavaliers games since the sit-down with Lue, James has averaged 29.7 points per game.
Speaking after Thursday’s 104-95 defeat to the Nets, James acknowledged he needed to step up as the play-offs loomed.
“I just need to do more,” James said.
“Just need to do more, and I have been able to do that, except for tonight, for the most part,” he said late Thursday.
James, who earlier this week said he was scaling back his activity on social media to help focus on the play-offs, said he was getting “locked down” for postseason.
“I am zeroing in on what needs to be done,” James said. “Body feels great. I am just trying to put this team on my back and try to help us get to a point where we can just play at a high level. And they always take my lead and my energy, and hopefully they follow me.”