LeBron: Bulls Are “Much Better” Than Cavs
After this off season, it’s clear who the top two dogs in the Eastern Conference are: the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two teams are likely to finish first and second in the conference, and each has its own unique make up. They also face each other tonight in preseason action on NBA TV.
The Bulls have an establishment of defense and toughness to go with their main core that has been together for several years under head coach Tom Thibodeau. The Cavaliers have LeBron James and a slew of talented and versatile offensive weapons with a rookie NBA head coach. LeBron has had his fair share of run-ins with the Bulls in the regular and postseason, and he shared his candid feelings about Chicago’s current team in comparison to his via Brian Windhorst of ESPN:
[The Bulls] are a team that’s much better than us right now just off chemistry. They’ve been together for awhile, we’ve got a long way to go…
“You’ve got to go through something to create a bond; that means for the worse. We’ve got to lose ball games that we think we should’ve won, we’ve got to get into an argument every now and then just to test each other out…
It has to happen. I know it is going to happen. A lot of guys don’t see it, but I see it. That’s the only way we’re going to be able to grow. You don’t define yourself during the good times, you define yourself through the bad times. That’s for the players and the coaching staff as well.
LeBron knows his Cavaliers have growing pains to experience. His experiential knowledge is what can help Cleveland raise their standard to championship level. It’s also what led him to make these comments. He respects the Bulls. He knows what they do and how well they do it. He also knows about their additions in the off season which makes them more of a threat offensively than in the past. This might have been LeBron simply being political, but it’s also a pretty objective stance. Don’t expect him to jump the gun on his team’s ceiling until they’re ready.
For a first glance at how the two top teams in the conference stack up against each other, check out the Cavs/Bulls preseason game tonight on NBA TV at 7:00 PM EST.
