10 Harsh realities about LeBron James

#1 He has needed at least 2 other All-Stars to win every title

Referring to the Cavaliers' recent slump of form in February and March, LeBron James lamented the loss of a key player and fellow All-Star Kevin Love in his lineup with the following statement:

It’s been a long time since I haven’t played with another All-Star on my team. So, having Kev out has been very challenging for all of us. Kev has a big usage rate on our team. He’ll get the ball when things get tight, chaotic; we can throw it to him in the low post and get some things going.”

This forces us to look back to the last time James played without an active All-Star alongside him, which was 2009-10. During this season, James lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and bolted to South Beach to team up with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade - two of the best two-way players in the league at their respective positions.

Indeed, without co-stars to shoulder the load of isolation scoring, LeBron-led teams have been unable to win games on a consistent basis. This is primarily because of the failure of his teams to develop a system in which every player thrives irrespective of who is on the floor.

LeBron-led teams need LeBron to do all the playmaking and facilitating, while also needing another iso scorer to keep defenses from double-teaming him consistently. Contrast this with the Warriors and Spurs, who play the same style of basketball with or without Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard, and win games.

You could go further back to the Lakers and Celtics in 2010 - even with their superstars sitting, these teams played at a high level and did not need an All-Star roster to maintain leads because of their systemically strong defense and high-IQ offense.