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LeBron James Defends Warriors, Says He Would ‘Try to Sign Everyone’ as Owner
MIKE CHIARI
JUNE 08, 2017
With the Golden State Warriors receiving criticism for their “superteam” construction, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James defended the Dubs on Thursday.
According to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, James said Golden State’s roster was within the rules and suggested he’d try to do the same thing as the Warriors if he was in charge of running a team: “If I become an owner, I’m going to try to sign everybody.”
James also stood up for the idea of great teams adding more to the mix to get better, per ESPN’s J.A. Adande: “Is it fair the New York Yankees in the ’90s added piece after piece? Is it fair the Cowboys added Deion Sanders?”
Last year’s Warriors team won an NBA-record 73 games during the regular season but fell to the Cavs in seven games in the 2016 NBA Finals. They added Kevin Durant to the mix in July, and while their win total dipped during the 2016-17 season, they are now one win away from sweeping the Cavaliers and completing a perfect postseason.
According to the NBA’s official Twitter account, James believes he is meant to face huge challenges like the Warriors: “It’s part of my calling to go up against great teams.”
James also spoke about the parallels between him leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat and Durant leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Warriors.
As seen in the following video courtesy of NBA TV, LeBron thought the situations were different since Durant joined a team that was already established:
Golden State took a 3-0 series lead over Cleveland on Wednesday by virtue of a come-from-behind 118-113 victory.
The Warriors have an opportunity to close out the series Friday in Cleveland.
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