LeBron James

Cavs' GM on LeBron: 'You're basically charged with the legacy of Babe Ruth'

Published Jan. 17, 2017 6:10 a.m. ET

Brett Pollakoff

It's a blessing and a privilege for an NBA general manager to have the greatest basketball player of a generation as part of the roster, but it's also an incredible responsibility that comes with it and an insane amount of pressure.

Thankfully for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, David Griffin has risen to the challenge.

Griffin has managed to make trades and sign free agents despite the fact that the Cavaliers are maxed out from a salary-cap perspective, and he knows as well as anyone how important it is to surround LeBron with as much talent as possible while his championship window remains fully open.

"You’re basically charged with the legacy of Babe Ruth, and it’s our responsibility to allow that legacy to grow and evolve,” Griffin told The Vertical. “So it’s almost like a sacred trust that the kid gives you. He’s so good, in his own right, by himself, that he sort of mandates you have to be a title contender just by his presence alone … and if you don’t capitalize on the years he has left, then shame on us.”