LeBron James

LeBron James' coach admits he can't control what LeBron does during games

Published Feb. 29, 2016 11:15 a.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

Maybe LeBron James' disrespect for his coaches' decisions wasn't just a David Blatt thing.

The Cleveland Cavaliers star missed Sunday's humiliating loss to the Washington Wizards because he needed rest — and he needed rest because he refused to listen to Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. According to Lue, he tried to sit James for a quick stretch as the All-Star forward approached 40 minutes against the Raptors on Friday. Instead, James refused to come out (via ESPN.com):

"He didn't want to come out," Lue said. "He didn't want to come out. I should've got him out, but he didn't want to come out. As the game started down the stretch getting close, I said I'm going to get you out for a couple minutes. He said, 'No!' He went crazy. That kind of has something to do with sitting him today, an early game at 1 o'clock."

While NBA stars typically have some control over their playing time, this blatant disregard for coaching is becoming something of a problem for LeBron. He balked at attempts by his former Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra, to control his playing time, until Pat Riley threw down the hammer in Miami.

And before the Cavs made a change from Blatt to Lue, LeBron famously threw a tantrum and took himself out of a game this season, costing Cleveand a technical foul and any appearance of team camaraderie:

LeBron just walks off the court mid-game against the Hawks. Receives a technical for the delay. Clearly frustrated.https://t.co/7ZxmD0aV2v
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 22, 2015

With those antics (and the Cavs' recent woes), it's no wonder that J.R. Smith is bashing his team for their effort. If LeBron isn't going to lead, someone has to.