NIALL GRAY - THE NBA BLOG
03/04/2010

IT'S win or bust for Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers this season and Niall Gray asks if the pressure to win it all will end up being too much...

CALL me an old cynic, but Lebron James' request to change his shirt number is nothing more than a marketing ploy. It also shows ignorance on Lebron's part by his sheer choice of number.

I laugh when I hear that it's about giving respect to Michael Jordan and how nobody should ever wear his number. Give me a break! Lebron talks about #6 as if it was just another number and that shows ignorance to Bill Russell, one of the all-time greats.

It's simply to sell more merchandise and nothing else. Kobe Bryant did it and his jersey sales (as well as other merchandise) increased so much that his jersey became the NBA's number one seller.

You're probably wondering why I'm bringing up this topic in an article about pressure. That's an easy one. Now, more than ever, the Cavaliers need to be focused on that championship and it seems Lebron's mind is more on dollar signs than leading a championship challenge. The media have picked up on the number change and you know they are not going to let go of it.

With Lebron in his final year of the contract (and that is yet another distraction and more dollar signs), the Cavaliers went down this 'win or bust' route and have built a stacked roster, one of the best in the NBA from top to bottom.

The recent trade for Antawn Jamison made them stronger and it's no secret that Zydrunas Ilgauksas, who was traded for Jamison and then had his contract bought out by Washington, is likely to re-sign with the Cavs.

The old and beat-up frame of Shaquille O'Neal was signed for the play-offs and now that's all they'll have him for, following his thumb injury which will keep Shaq out until the post-season has begun. That might be ok for the Cavs as one of the few big men that Shaq can still match up with is Dwight Howard, and as things stand those teams will meet in the Conference finals.

The Cavs' management have done their best to build a talented team around Lebron and they need him to win now. The general consensus is if Cleveland wins the championship this summer, he'll stay. If not, it's felt he'll be leaving town on the next available flight and the Cavs will be left with a shell of a team that'll do nothing for years to come.

The biggest worry Cavs fans will have right now (apart from whether Lebron will return) is if their team will cope with the pressure of trying to win the championship. Let's face it, they can not afford to screw it up.

But recent history is not on this team's side. You only have to look back to last season and the 66-16 Cavs had NBA commissioner David Stern rubbing his hands at the thought of a Lakers-Cavs finals. Or more to the point, a Kobe-Lebron finals.

Their improved roster was built to handle the Celtics , but when Kevin Garnett went down with an injury, taking the Celtics' title hopes with him, the Cavs found themselves up against Orlando.

While they were more than a match for Boston, they could not handle Dwight Howard and the Magic. If it hadn't been for Lebron's miracle buzzer beater in game 2 of the Eastern finals, they could have been swept out of the series having already lost the first game at home.

The year before the Cavs were up against the Celtics in the 2nd round and although they'd had a below par regular season, Cleveland had been NBA finalists the year before (although their appearance in the 2007 finals was a shock and one of the worst finals in recent history). At that point the Celtics hadn't really clicked into gear and came into the series following a torrid series against Atlanta.

The Cavs were able to take care of the Celtics in Cleveland and they had chances to win in Boston, in at least three of the four games. But when those chances were there for the taking, the Cavs, to use a baseball phrase, failed to step up to the plate.

As it stands right now the Cavs have the best record in the NBA and will at the very least (barring disaster) own the best record in the East.

With a team built to beat Orlando, Atlanta not quite an elite level team and Boston seemingly on the decline, many people think this is Cleveland's year to get back to the finals.

Lebron James knows now, more than ever, the eyes of the basketball world are on him. Succeed and he could do for Cleveland what Jordan did for Chicago. Fail and Lebron could end up somewhere else, earning lots of money, but perhaps never winning a championship and realising the potential of being one of the game's greatest players.

Now, if that's not pressure to win, I don't know what is.

The question is, can Lebron handle it?

Niall Gray for 24/7