LeBron James, a forward for the Miami Heat basketball team, believes he is playing too many minutes in his team’s basketball games. After the team’s most recent game against the Boston Celtic, a match they ended up losing, James told reporters that he has been playing too much, despite nearly having a triple-double and appearing to be the only player on the team whose head was really in the game.
“For myself, 44 minutes is too much,” said James. “ I think Coach Spo [Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra] knows that. Forty minutes for D-Wade is too much. We have to have as much energy as we can to finish games out.”
Although 44 minutes of playing time is typically too long for any NBA player to be participating in during November, many believe that James’ comments regarding his feelings toward his playing time is difficult for Spoelstra to hear. There has been talk regarding the coach’s future with the Heat as the team has opened the new season with a disappointing record of 5-4 and it is likely Spoelstra would prefer that conversations about playing time and coaching decisions be had in private.
It is speculated that Spoelstra has been relying so heavily on James, resulting in increased playing time for the forward, because of disappointing efforts from guard Dwyane Wade and forward Chris Bosh. Mike Miller is expected to remain on the bench until December 25 while he continues to recover from his thumb injury.
James is not the first professional athlete to believe he is seeing too much playing time. Brandon Roy, guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, also told reporters this week that he has been spending too much time on the court and would like some more time on the bench to relieve swelling in his left knee.
