LeBron James Says Cavs Are "Not A Great Team" Right Now

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a successful start to the season and are in first place in the Eastern Conference, but star forward LeBron James isn't satisfied. After the Cavs' 108-105 loss to the Bucks in double overtime on Saturday night, James ripped his team: 

“We’re not a great team right now,” James said. “We’re a good team, but we have to improve on a lot of things in order for us to get better and play at a high level every night.”

Even though the Cavs are 8-2 on the season and have the second-best record in the NBA, LeBron said that doesn't mean much.

“That don’t mean you’re great,” he said. “We have to play (with) a lot more sustainable effort throughout the 48 minutes. And we don’t do that. We give a half-assed effort sometimes and expect that we can just make a run at the end. We’re not good enough to do that right now.”

Guard J.R. Smith echoed James' statements, saying Cleveland lost the game because they came out flat.

“We’ve got to come out earlier with more fire about us,” Smith said. “It’s good that we lost because it’s a wake-up call.”

James is averaging 27 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game this season. Smith is averaging 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

Cleveland's next games is Tuesday, Nov. 17 on the road against the Detroit Pistons.

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Related Topics: J.R. Smith, Cavs News, NBA News, Lebron James