National Basketball Association

Colin Cowherd reacts to LeBron James' warning to his teammates

Published Mar. 23, 2017 4:28 p.m. ET

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Nick Schwartz

The struggling Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their sixth game out of the past 10 on Wednesday night in Denver to fall just a game ahead of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference, and LeBron James wasn't happy with the effort some of his teammates put forth in the loss.

Following the game, James put his teammates on notice.

“It ain’t about a group, it’s about individuals. Everybody’s got to just be more, just do more. It ain’t about no group. You can’t preach toughness. You’ve got to have it.

"I had opportunities where I could have been better. The one thing about it, I’m always bringing toughness to the game. I know that, that’s for sure.”

“LeBron wanted a bunch of scorers and three-point shooters. They’re not tough guys. If you go play at the YMCA, the guy who jacks threes is never the tough guy.

"Who is the tough guy on the Cavaliers? Tristan Thompson. Do you know how many threes he’s shot in his career? Zero.

"So LeBron demanded all these… Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, J.R. Smith, Channing Frye. He wanted all these three-point shooters. Those aren’t the tough guys! Ray Allen’s not a tough guy. 

"A tough guy is the Birdman. Tristan Thompson. So in LeBron’s pursuit to equal the Warriors on threes, he has littered this lineup with offensively skilled guys and shooters.

"… LeBron wanted all the shooters. He got the shooters! Now they don’t play any defense. And for the record, they are worst in the NBA in March in creating turnovers. So shooters tend to be not as aggressive as a Tristan Thompson, a Ben Wallace, guys that have to be aggressive and tough to make it and stay in this league."

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